


Tale As Old As Time

by katychan666



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Beauty and the Beast - Modern Setting AU, M/M, witch/Hexenbiest!Camille
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-30
Packaged: 2020-09-02 05:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 41,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20270683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katychan666/pseuds/katychan666
Summary: The Lightwoods are invited on a masquerade party at the one and only, Magnus Bane - a mysterious warlock, who hasn't been seen in public in decades, but his reputation proceeds him. There are many stories going on about him, many people claim that he's a monster. Luckily, Alec doesn't really care about rumors, but what will he do when he learns what hides behind Magnus' mask?(Beauty and The Beast, Malec version)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shiorino](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shiorino/gifts).
**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translated into Vietnamese by Samantha. 😍 translation can be found here: https://my.w.tt/ljHgOPbLr0 😊❤❤❤

‘’I still don’t understand why  _ I  _ have to go to this ‘party’,’’ whined Alec as Isabelle was trying to make his outfit work. The Lightwoods were invited to a masquerade party and Alec wasn’t having any of it. Partying wasn’t on his list of priorities, but Isabelle was trying to make him go and in the end Alec didn’t really have a say at it as Jace also came to her side and Alec was now just whining and groaning, because he just wished the evening would be over. He could already see how much it was going to suck and he then clicked with his tongue, rolling his eyes and then pressed his lips together.

‘’Because we’ve been invited by no other than  _ Magnus Bane,’’ _ said Isabelle happily and Alec groaned  _ again.  _ Oh, yes, the Shadowhunter had heard all about this Magnus Bane. There were many stories going on around him - he knew how to enjoy himself. He was a hedonist, someone who cared only about partying and Alec  _ disliked _ those kinds of people. Alec knew many rumours, one of them being that Magnus never left his loft, actually. Some of the rumours even went as far as to claim that Magnus was some kind of monster, but that was just silly. There were many popular rumours, but Alec guessed they were just stories that people made up. Still, he didn’t like this arrangement one bit.

‘’Exactly,’’ said Alec and then hissed. ‘’It’s because it’s Magnus Bane. I mean, we don’t even know him, why would he invite us to his place?’’ asked Alec and then started rubbing his forehead. ‘’He has to have something up his sleeve, you can never be too careful with guys like that. His reputation proceeds him, Izzy,’’ said Alec and Isabelle only snorted, rolling her eyes and then put on her silver mask on. ‘’You know about rumours, right? People say that he’s a  _ monster,’’ _ whispered Alec and Isabelle rolled her eyes.

‘’Alec, since when do you believe in such made up stories?’’ asked Izzy and rolled her eyes. ‘’This is once in a lifetime opportunity - people rarely get to see him, so we should consider ourselves  _ lucky,’’  _ insisted Izz and Alec grumbled. ‘’Oh, would you for once in your life stop worrying about every single detail and just enjoy?’’ asked Isabelle, because Alec was being such a buzzkill. ‘’Look, we’ll have our Seraph blades and Steles with us,’’ said Izzy. ‘’So, if anything goes wrong, we’ll be ready,’’ she said and then huffed. ‘’And for your information, you’re the Head of the Institute, right?’’ asked Izzy and Alec slowly nodded. ‘’And this is why we’re all invited,’’ said Izzy. ‘’He invited many of influential people, so stop worrying and let us enjoy,’’ said Izzy and then gave Alec a little impatient smile.

‘’Okay, whatever you say,’’ said Alec and grumpily grabbed for his mask. ‘’Still if anything happens there, don’t come crying to me,’’ he grumbled and put on the mask, not really liking how izzy giggled when she saw him and Alec just felt sorry for himself. Soon, Jace and Clary came to the room as well and Alec groaned when he saw that the Little Girl was coming along as well. ‘’Jace, why is she here?’’ whined Alec and Clary roller her eyes.

‘’The invite said we can bring plus one,’’ said Jace happily and looked at his girlfriend. He wasn’t going to let his Parabatai to ruin the fun for him. ‘’And Clary is my plus one,’’ he said happily and kissed the red-head, making Alec gag and he then looked at Isabelle. He was miserable, this was going to be horrible and- 

‘’Yeah, Simon is coming with me as my plus one,’’ said Isabelle happily.

‘’The  _ vampire?!’’’  _ asked Alec and then narrowed his eyes. ‘’Are you two together, Izzy?!’’ asked Alec and Isabelle started laughing, because Alec was hilarious when he was grumpy like that. The fact that both his brother and sister were going with someone made him even more annoyed and he crossed his arms on top of his chest. This was officially the worst day of his life. It couldn’t get worse than this - poor, little soul didn’t even know what was coming. 

‘’Alec, we’re just friends,’’ said Izzy and then giggled. ‘’For now,’’ she then said and sighed, Alec grumbling and he then just tucked his Stele into his pocket. ‘’Aw, don’t be sad, we can find you someone to go with you,’’ said Isabelle and Alec looked at her, narrowing his eyes.

‘’I bet Brian would be-’’ started Jace and Alec shut him down with one glare.

‘’No, ew Jace!’’ said Izzy and Alec quickly nodded. Brian gave him the creeps - he was the sleaziest guy Alec had ever met and would never stop following him around. That was why he always made sure that Brian worked the furthest away from him, because he couldn’t… Alec truly didn’t understand how he couldn’t hammer it into that thick skull of his that he just wasn’t interested. Sure, on the outside, Brian was a decent looking guy, but it was the inside that was rotten to the core. Alec guessed that if he could, Brian would marry himself, because he was as arrogant as they came. Arrogant  _ and dumb as fuck!  _

‘’I rather kiss a spider,’’ deadpanned Alec and then just sighed. ‘’Never mind, I can handle being alone,’’ said Alec and then looked down, chewing on his lower lip and then rubbed his palms together. ‘’Ugh, let’s just get this over with,’’ sighed Alec under his breath and then just took his bow and quiver, making it disappear with the glamour and Jace looked at Isabelle.

‘’He’ll really take it with him?’’ asked the blonde one as they were going to a  _ party. _

‘’Let him have it, at least he’s getting out of the Institute for a change,’’ mumbled Isabelle and Jace nodded - she had a point. If Isabelle was being honest, she just wanted Alec to get out there and meet new people. He was always inside, either working in his office or training. If he ever left the Institute was for a mission. And there wasn’t anything wrong with that, but Isabelle could see it in Alec’s eyes - he was miserable and he needed to meet  _ someone.  _ Didn’t have to be a relationship, could be a new friend. 

‘’Theo,’’ said Alec as he hollered to Underhill when he was getting ready to leave the Institute. Underhill strolled Alec’s way and then arched an eyebrow when he saw that the boss had a mask on. Alec quickly realised that and put it down for the time being. ‘’Underhill, is the coast clear?’’ whispered Alec and Underhill nodded - Brian was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the last time Underhill checked, he was cleaning the weapons and Alec felt relieved. 

‘’Are you going somewhere, boss?’’ asked Underhill when he saw Alec and the Shadowhunter groaned, but nodded.

‘’To this masquerade party,’’ said Alec and rolled his eyes. ‘’Hosted by one and only Magnus Bane,’’ said Alec and then huffed, Underhill’s eyes widening. Magnus Bane.  _ The  _ Magnus Bane?! ‘’Ugh. So I’ll need you to be in charge for the few hours that I’m going to be suffering there,’’ said Alec and Underhill rubbed the back of his neck, but eventually nodded and then gave him thumbs up.

‘’Enjoy yourself, boss, I’ll take care of things here,’’ said Underhill and Alec thanked him, then finally accepted his doom. He just hoped it was going to pass quickly.

* * *

An hour into the party and Alec was bored out of his mind there. The so-called host of the party,  _ Magnus Bane,  _ was nowhere to be seen. As they made their way there, the loft was already packed with people and for a mere loft, it sure as hell managed to host a lot of people inside. It was then that Alec realised that it was probably magic, because the place was freaking huge on the inside. And it was quite luxurious, just as he expected it to be - Magnus Bane wasn’t just anyone and he then rolled his eyes, going for another drink and then he started searching for a chair. The other four were all on the dance floor and were having fun. Alec grumbled and then started feeling sorry for himself. 

The whole place gave him the creeps though. Even though he knew this was a warlock’s place, it still felt kind of eerie. He should have expected magic everywhere, but still! He could have sworn that he could hear Magnus’ cat  _ talking _ before. Not meowing, but talking as if it was a human. A woman and Alec rubbed his forehead. His boredom was probably making him see and hear things that weren’t really there. 

But it wasn’t only the cat! There was a clock on the shelf that kept looking at  _ him.  _ Yes, Alec knew how that sounded, but when he moved, it moved as well and Alec could sense that it wasn’t a nice stare. It was a glare and it made him feel welcomed in there. He then narrowed his eyes as he came closer to the clock and he gently tapped onto the glass on the front and then sighed. ‘’Come on, Alec, get it together,’’ said the hunter to himself then and then just shook his head. He turned around and didn’t hear how the clock started silently complaining though!

Alec needed more alcohol, so he headed for another cocktail. Those were supposed to be Magnus’ famous cocktails and he had to hand it to him - they were literally to die for and he wasn’t a big fan of alcohol. They weren’t even that strong, but very refreshing and Alec happily hummed as he started looking around and finally located a free chair and quickly walked over to it. However as he sat on it, he saw the candelabra on the table move on  _ its  _ own and Alec’s jaw dropped. How come the others weren’t noticing this?!

A talking cat, a glaring clock, a moving candelabra! Alec was freaked out and he quickly stood up as he needed to get to Izzy. As he was in a hurry, he didn’t even notice the footstool and ended up tripping over it and landing on top of it, letting out a yelp when he heard the stool letting out a very painful meow and he was catapulted onto his legs. A meowing footstool! This couldn’t be it! This was… Alec needed Izzy! Alec quickly dragged Izzy to the side and then placed his hands on top of her shoulders. 

‘’Alec, what the hell-’’

‘’Izzy, we need to get the hell out of here,’’ said Alec and Isabelle narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. ‘’No, don’t give me that look. I mean it, this place is weird, I have a  _ bad _ feeling about it,’’ said Alec and then shook his head. ‘’You have to believe me, but… that footstool just meowed when I tripped over it and-and the cat is  _ talking,’’ _ explained Alec and Izzy arched an eyebrow, blinked a few times and then burst into laughter. ‘’Iz!’’

‘’You amaze me, the lengths you will go to get out from here, but next time try to make up something more believable, okay?’’ asked Isabelle, because she clearly didn’t believe him. It wasn’t like Alec could blame her - he also wouldn’t believe someone if they would tell him what he had just told Izzy, but he was desperate and he then rubbed his forehead, feeling helpless. 

‘’Iz, you have to believe me,’’ whined Alec. ‘’This place is cursed, like the rumours say,’’ said Alec. ‘’It has to be true - why do you think no one has ever been able to locate Magnus?’’ asked Alec and Isabelle arched an eyebrow. ‘’It’s because this place is-’’

‘’Is my loft not up your tastes, Mr Lightwood?’’ suddenly asked the voice behind him and Alec froze up. Isabelle’s eyes widened as well as she looked past Alec and then smiled, because there was a tall man standing behind Alec, also wearing a mask and had a little smile on his face. Alec wanted to die - it was Magnus?! Alec pressed his lips together and then started stammering, but nothing smart really came out of his mouth and in the end he just looked down. He didn’t really dare to turn around. ‘’You have to be Isabelle?’’ asked Magnus and Izzy happily nodded.

‘’Y-yes,’’ stammered Izzy and Alec wanted to run away before the beast was about to get them. Suddenly he was a believer. ‘’And this grump right here is my brother,’’ said Izzy and dragged Alec closer. ‘’Stop being rude and say hi, he’s the host,’’ hissed Izzy and Alec turned around painfully slowly. Alec prepared himself to see a monster, but his jaw hit the floor when he saw Magnus.

Magnus was: tall, shiny, his hair was spiked up, he was wearing makeup and his nails were painted, he had many rings and necklaces, had pretty eyes that Alec couldn’t stop looking and despite Magnus still had his mask on, Alec could see it perfectly clear -  _ Magnus Bane was totally his type.  _ ‘’I-I-I-’’ stammered Alec and then looked at Isabelle. ‘’My name is, um, Alec!’’ said Alec when he finally remembered and Magnus  _ smiled.  _ Okay, what the hell was wrong with people? This man was truly an angel, why- ‘’Oh, you’re not a monster at all,’’ suddenly blurted out Alec and could see Magnus’ face darken, but he recovered quickly.

‘’Thanks?’’ asked Magnus and Alec felt like the biggest moron under the Sun.

‘’No, I’m-’’ said Alec and then made a little pause. ‘’I didn’t-’’ he then stammered again and then just looked down. ‘’I didn’t mean it like that, I just-’’

‘’I’m very well aware of the rumours going around,’’ said Magnus softly, but there was coldness behind his voice and Alec looked and Izzy, who was also glaring at him and he realised he fucked up. 

‘’Um,’’ started Alec. ‘’I didn’t-’’ he said as he was desperate to talk about something else. ‘’I really like your cocktails!’’ said the first thing that came to his mind and Isabelle slapped herself across her forehead. They were so getting kicked out. But much to her surprise, Magnus decided to let it go and he sighed happily at the compliment. 

‘’Really?’’ asked Magnus and Alec huffed, feeling relieved a little bit. ‘’I mix them by hand, no magic used,’’ he said proudly and Alec perked up. ‘’How about if we go get one together?’’ asked Magnus softly and Alec looked at Isabelle, who waggled his eyebrows. Magnus wanted to share cocktails with him? But, why?!

‘’You want to share cocktails with me?’’ asked Alec and Magnus nodded.

‘’Very much so,’’ said Magnus with a bright smile and Alec turned to Isabelle, who only pushed him closer to Magnus and sent him thumbs up and Alec just slowly followed Magnus as he didn’t know what to think about this whole thing. But he didn’t want to be even more rude, so he kept his mouth shut and he just thanked Magnus when he handed him a new cocktail and Magnus smiled. 

‘’Oh, it’s good,’’ said Alec as he tried the new one and Magnus winked.

‘’I know, right?’’ he asked and Alec looked down a little bit and then chuckled. ‘’You always go armed to parties?’’ asked Magnus and Alec flushed up to his ears.

‘’You can see?’’ asked Alec and unglamoured his bow and quiver. Magnus chuckled and nodded. ‘’I-I’m sorry, I’m just… not used to going to parties,’’ said Alec and then put the weapons down and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘’I’m, um, very awkward,’’ he carried on and then clasped his hands together. ‘’Very bad at small talk,’’ he then carried on. ‘’Or talking to people in general,’’ he said and then hummed. ‘’Yeah.’’

‘’You have a habit babbling when you’re nervous?’’ asked Magnus.

‘’Yeah, how did you know?’’ asked Alec genuinely confused.

‘’Just a hunch,’’ said Magnus and winked, taking a sip of his cocktail. ‘’So, you’re not liking the party?’’ asked Magnus and pouted a little bit. 

‘’I-I am now,’’ said Alec shyly and Magnus grinned in return.

‘’Thank God,’’ said Magnus and Alec pressed his lips together. ‘’You’re adorable,’’ said Magnus under his breath and Alec looked at him, his eyes wide.

‘’Um, what did you say?’’ asked Alec and Magnus bit his lip.

‘’Nothing,’’ said Magnus, but the smile on his lips said otherwise.

* * *

‘’I can’t believe you’ve got me to dance,’’ said Alec, who was now on the dance floor with Magnus. He didn’t even know how Magnus got him to dance, but an hour later since the two of them had started chatting up, Magnus invited him to dance and Alec just couldn’t say no. Maybe it was the way he said it, or the way his eyes sparked up a little bit, but Alec couldn’t turn him down. Magnus could be quite persuasive and Alec was happily sighing as he was looking into Magnus’ eyes, who also couldn’t stop looking at the handsome Shadowhunter in front of him. ‘’I don’t usually dance,’’ said Alec.

‘’Ah, you’re a stoic type of a Shadowhunter, huh,’’ said Magnus with a wink and Alec ducked his head down and then pressed his lips together.  _ Perhaps.  _ Perhaps he truly was, but- ‘’I don’t mind,’’ he then said and then happily smiled. ‘’So, I take it that you’re still having fun, Alexander?’’ asked Magnus and Alec nodded.

‘’Yeah, this place is amazing,’’ said Alec and Magnus chuckled. ‘’I know it’ll sound crazy, but can your cat talk?’’ asked Alec all of the sudden and Magnus snorted, looking past the people and then chuckled when he saw the cat, trying to find a peaceful spot so that she could hide away from people.

‘’Sometimes,’’ said Magnus mysteriously and Alec perked up. ‘’Usually she just hisses at me,’’ he carried on and Alec wasn’t so sure anymore - was Magnus joking or was he being serious? ‘’The clock likes to roll his eyes,’’ said Magnus and Alec’s jaw dropped. So he was right before?! Magnus chuckled when he saw the expression on Alec’s face, but then again what could he do? Magnus was watching Alec before and he could see that Alec caught on. 

‘’So it’s true?’’ whispered Alec. ‘’Is your apartment truly alive?’’ he carried on and started looking around - oh, this was so fascinating!

‘’Maybe,’’ said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. ‘’Stick around to find out?’’ he then offered and Alec didn’t know how to take this - what was Magnus offering?! Alec didn’t know, but he quickly nodded and Magnus gave him a little chuckle. Alec could have sworn that he saw Magnus’ eyes turning golden for a split second and he blinked a few times. But it was gone as soon as it came and he then smiled again. 

So, Alec stayed, after all of the guests left to go home, he happily volunteered to stay over at Magnus’ and help him…  _ clean up.  _ Yeah, that was  _ totally _ his motivation.  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Camille isn't a vampire in this particular story, but a witch. If any of you are in the Grimm fandom, I was leaning more towards her being a Hexenbiest even xD. I don't know, just somehow clicked when I was writing this.
> 
> Also I wanna thank my beautiful, talented, amazing, lovely soulmate for her help! You really help me out so much Katya kyaaaaa  
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

‘’Iz, I’m heading out,’’ said Alec as he walked past his sister and a little grin spread upon her face and before Alec was able to walk past her, she caught up to him and then waggled her eyebrows. Alec had been doing this a lot for the past week -  _ heading out.  _ Now that she thought about it, it was ever since the masquerade party over at Magnus’ and she put on a little suspicious smile and then held Alec’s forearm, who narrowed his eyes and grumbled. Now what? ‘’Iz, why are you holding my hand?’’ asked Alec as he was kind of in a hurry to get over to Magnus’. Indeed, he had been visiting the warlock for the past week almost every day and he couldn’t get enough of spending time with him. It was kind of a pity that they only met up at his place as he wanted to take him out on a proper date once!

‘’Heading out, huh?’’ asked Isabelle and then winked to her older brother. ‘’Is it a mission?’’ she then asked and Alec only shook his head. ‘’Hmm, where are you going then?’’ she then asked and tried not to smile too much, but the look on Alec’s face was hilarious and she just snorted. It was so very obvious that Alec was spending time with Magnus. In the end Alec only rolled his eyes, but smiled nevertheless. It wasn’t really a secret that he had been going to Magnus’ loft to enjoy in his company and his…  _ cocktails.  _ Yeah, that was what he used to explain it to others, but when it came down to it, he really liked Magnus’ company. He was a very funny guy and-

‘’If you must know, I’m going over to Magnus’ loft,’’ said Alec simply and Isabelle chuckled - so he wasn’t going to deny it? Good! ‘’Today he’ll be teaching me how to mix his famous cocktails,’’ he then said happily and there was a sheepish smile coming upon his face. ‘’No, don’t give me that look!’’ said Alec and Isabelle ended up giving him  _ that _ look after all. But she couldn’t help it, Alec was funny when it came to dating people. Not that he dated many people in the past though, but-

‘’So… it’s only for the cocktails that you keep going back to his place?’’ asked Isabelle and Alec blinked a few times. Maybe he should lie and say yes, but in the end he just shook his head and then bit his lip.

‘’Not really, I just like spending time with him,’’ said Alec softly and couldn’t deny the forming flush upon his cheeks and Isabelle gave him a happy grin and a giggle. So she was totally onto the two of them! ‘’I think I like him, Iz,’’ he then carried on and Isabelle chuckled. Yeah,  _ duh.  _ But, she wasn’t going to say that, of course not. Instead, she gave him a happy smile and then happily patted his back.

‘’See, what did I tell you?’’ asked Isabelle and then smiled even wider. ‘’There’s someone for you out there too,’’ she said and Alec gave her a sheepish smile. ‘’And to think that someone is  _ Magnus Bane,’’ _ she said and sighed happily. ‘’Ah, this is so special.’’

‘’I just hope he feels the same about me,’’ said Alec with a small voice and then shrugged.

‘’Of course he does,’’ said Isabelle. ‘’Magnus Bane wouldn’t show himself in public just for anyone, you know?’’ asked Izzy and Alec hummed. ‘’I mean no one had seen him in decades and now you’re just free to visit his place whenever you feel like it?’’ asked Izzy and winked. ‘’Trust me, he does have a thing for you,’’ she finished her speech and Alec thought about it for a little bit more and then in the end he just nodded. Maybe she was right and if he played his cards right, he could actually ask him out on a proper date that day? Alec felt giddy inside and then took in a deep breath.

‘’Okay, I’ll do it,’’ said Alec and Isabelle looked at him. ‘’I’ll ask him out,’’ he then finally said and Isabelle let out an excited sigh. 

‘’Ask  _ me _ out?’’ suddenly said a voice behind the Lightwoods and Alec felt shivers going up and down his spine and not the good kinds. He liked the shivers when Magnus looked into his eyes and held his waist while they danced last week, or when he’d smile and give him one of his winks. Those were good kinds of shivers, but  _ this _ was sheer horror and disgust and he already started thinking how he’d get rid of him. Shipping him off to the Wrangel Island sounded so super pleasing, but he needed a good excuse, which he didn’t have. Ugh!

‘’Fuck off, Brian,’’ said Alec and gagged when he looked at Isabelle, who started snickering. But did the other give up. Oh, of course not! He followed them and Alec started walking faster. One of these days Alec was going to get a restraining order against him. ‘’By the Angel, literally never stops stalking me,’’ whined Alec and then looked around, only to see Brian there with them and he cleared his throat. 

‘’So are you gonna ask me out or what?’’ asked Brian happily and Alec looked at Isabelle and then they both burst into laughter, making the other hunter narrow his eyes and then he rubbed the back of his neck - is it something that he said? ‘’You know that my family is pretty wealthy, so if we marry-’’

‘’Oh, God, no  _ please,’’ _ said Alec and covered his ears. ‘’Then again, maybe our honeymoon should be on the Wrangel Island,’’ said Alec then and Isabelle was quietly cracking up. But the other didn’t get the sarcasm behind Alec’s words. ‘’It’ll make it easier for me to make  _ you _ disappear. You could keep the polar bears company. Or better yet, you could be their chew toy,’’ said Alec and Brian finally caught on by then.

‘’Are you trying to insult me?’’ he asked offended.

‘’Oh, no, am I? I’m surprised your tiny IQ was able to finally understand that,’’ said Alec and placed his hand over his chest. ‘’How very rude of me,’’ he then said and just started laughing again, walking again with Isabelle and luckily they weren’t followed again, but he knew that Brian was soon going to be back. But for now he was free and he huffed - off to Magnus’ he was and he rubbed his palms together happily. Oh, he needed to bring something with him! Maybe a small bouquet of roses? 

_ Yes! Let’s go with that! _

* * *

‘’I know time’s running out, but I  _ can’t  _ make him fall in love with me,’’ grumbled Magnus and the clock rolled his eyes. ‘’Don’t give me that attitude, Raphi,’’ said Magnus and folded his arms on top of his chest. ‘’If you’re so smart, why don’t  _ you _ try to come up with something better?’’ asked Magnus, who as fed up with everything. He was fed up with the curse that his ex had put him under out of sheer jealousy and revenge. Unable to leave his loft for four decades, being trapped in there with his friends that were turned into pieces of furniture - it was all going to drive him nuts. And the worst part was what she did to  _ him -  _ turn him into this horrible  _ monster.  _ He was able to hide it well with glamour now, but when he lost control, he- Magnus growled and the clock flinched.

‘’Settle down, settle down, we’re all friends here,’’ said the candelabra, who hopped over to Magnus. ‘’Look, Raphael is just being… well, we’re all being a little bit impatient as the time is running out,’’ he said and Magnus nodded. Yes, he knew, but what could he  _ do?! _ ‘’All we have is two more months and we’ll be stuck like this for good, so-’’

‘’Don’t you think I know all of this, Ragnor?’’ grumbled Magnus and then sighed. ‘’I  _ know  _ this is all  _ my  _ fault,’’ he then said and hid his face into his palms. ‘’If it wasn’t for me, none of this would have happened,’’ he said and then slowly looked up, deflated and he then sighed. The Shadowhunter, Alexander, kept coming  _ back  _ for almost a week and it was a good sign, but… after people would see his  _ real _ face, they never came back. And for the curse to be broken, the person had to love Magnus no matter what. His  _ true _ self, without the ‘mask’ on and Magnus swallowed back the lump that formed in his throat. 

Camille really screwed him over - turned him into this awful thing, a thing that no one would be able to  _ love _ again. That was what her plan was after Magnus broke things off with her - to turn his life into something empty and lonely. A life without him being to love and be loved in return ever again. His friends were there, thankfully, but even that would fade over time. They’d be turned into furniture permanently and then Magnus would be stuck in his loft forever  _ alone.  _ His heart squeezed and he quickly snapped back to reality. He really didn’t want to think of that, but it was more and more on his mind lately as time was really slithering by and Magnus wished he could grasp it in his hands and stop it. 

‘’Nah, not your fault. It’s that witch bitch that did this to us,’’ said Maia, the passive aggressive wardrobe from the bedroom, who was listening their conversation and Magnus chuckled. Oh, he liked her a lot - she had a feisty personality and never failed to make him be in a better mood, while he was slowly losing hope for any of this to get better. ‘’Just you wait, I’ll kick her ass while I get back to normal,’’ she growled and Magnus sighed, clicking with his tongue and he just leaned back.

‘’Leave my poor boy alone,’’ suddenly said a shiny, black coffee pot. ‘’Can’t you see that he’s also suffering?’’ he carried on and Magnus rolled his eyes. His  _ father  _ was about to give another speech and he just face-palmed himself. Asmodeus had the misfortune to be in his place the day that all of  _ this _ went down and Magnus gritted his teeth. His father, the fashionable coffee pot as he liked to refer to himself as, was a lot to take in. ‘’Magnus, shh, don’t listen to them,’’ he then said and jumped into Magnus’ lap. 

‘’Dad, can you  _ not-’’ _

‘’It’s okay, I’ve got this,’’ reassured him his father, but Magnus highly doubted it and his father proceeded by doing what he knew how to do the best - running his mouth. He was saying a lot, but none of that actually made a lot of sense. Magnus was smiling and shaking his head, but in the end he just slumped back down and then clicked with his tongue. 

Alexander was his last hope, truly. And even though they barely knew each other, Magnus had to admit that he quite liked the young hunter. It was true that decades ago he’d never even think about dating a Shadowhunter, but now… well. He didn’t know how to explain it, but there was  _ something _ about Alec that was different and he just felt drawn to him. That was why he actually decided to approach him by himself at the masquerade party. It was actually his last attempt in finding his…  _ true _ love. Magnus sighed and then bit his lip. 

‘’Maybe Alec will be different,’’ said Magnus quietly and then sighed. ‘’I don’t know.’’

‘’He’s a Shadowhunter,’’ grumbled the clock and Ragnor hopped over to him, showing him one of his candles and Raphael quickly started moving backwards.

‘’Don’t let me burn your ass again,’’ said Ragnor.

‘’Oh, I’m a clock, I have no ass anymore,’’ shouted Raphael as he was quite on the edge with his nerves. 

‘’I’ll burn off what’s left of it if you don’t keep your mouth shut,’’ said Ragnor. 

‘’Ugh, you two can’t stop bickering for one day, can you?’’ asked the ginger cat and Magnus looked at his friend Catarina, who was quite ironically turned into a cat, while Chairman Meow, who was now purring in the corner of the room, was turned into a footstool. Magnus pressed his lips together and then clasped his hands.

‘’I’m just saying that Shadowhunters-’’ started Raphael, but was interrupted by a hopping teacup and he narrowed his eyes. ‘’Now what?’’

‘’Does it really matter when it comes to love?’’ asked the teacup and then sighed happily. ‘’ _ Amour _ knows no boundaries, be it a Shadowhunter, a Mundane, vampire, warlock and so on. If it’s the right person, none of that matters,’’ he said and then hopped around the floor. ‘’Shadowhunters are interesting creatures for sure, but they’re just as-’’

‘’Yeah, okay, Marcel. Literally no one cares,’’ said Raphael and Marcel glared up at him. ‘’So, shut it, Tiny and-’’

Oh, now he had done it, thought Magnus and the fight was full on - Raphael on one side and Marcel on the other. Ragnor tried to break it off, Maia complaining about then shutting up, Asmodeus trying to make it better and Magnus was so over it. Alec was going to be over any second now and he was slowly slipping, his bad mood consuming him and in the end, his glamour dropped, growling and all of them settled down when he roared loudly. Magnus looked down, took in a few deep breaths and then his glamour was back up. He wanted to say something, but then there was a knock at the door and Magnus cleared his throat.

‘’Alec’s here, places everyone,’’ he said and no one dared to speak back anymore, all of them going to their usual places. Even though Alec caught on that his loft wasn’t usual, he didn’t really tell him about any of it. He wanted things to appear normal for a little while as he didn’t want to send Alexander running back home so soon! He then put on a smile and walked over to the door, feeling his heart fasten a little bit - he was excited to finally see Alec again!

Alec, who was standing in front of Magnus’ loft for quite a bit as he was practicing his speech of asking Magnus out, heard the growls from the inside of the loft, startled, but eventually he got past that and just knocked on the door. Still, he was vary of things, but then Magnus opened the door and Alec looked into his eyes and all of his worries disappeared. ‘’Alexander, hi,’’ said Magnus happily and Alec chuckled and then bit his lip.

‘’Hi,’’ said Alec and then stepped inside of the loft. Magnus noticed the flowers in Alec’s hands and Alec pressed his lips, handing them to Magnus, who arched an eyebrow.

‘’For me?’’ asked Magnus and his eyes darkened when he saw that they were roses. 

‘’Y-yeah,’’ said Alec as he didn’t notice Magnus’ falter of mood and then he blinked a few times. ‘’I, um, I don’t know maybe it’s too much?’’ asked Alec. ‘’I just somehow wanted to surprise you and I don’t know… you don’t like flowers?’’ asked Alec, worried.

‘’I do,’’ said Magnus. ‘’Roses are bit… complicated,’’ said Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened and his heart fell into the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know, he really didn’t know that Magnus didn’t like roses and he panicked. ‘’But these ones are special,’’ he said and smiled again. ‘’They’re from you,’’ said Magnus and Alec perked up. Oh, thank God! Magnus summoned a vase with water and then just placed flowers on the coffee table in the living room and looked at Alec, who was nervously biting on his lip. 

‘’So, I’ve been meaning to-’’

‘’About those cocktails-’’ they said in unison and Magnus stopped talking and looked at Alec. ‘’Hmm?’’

Alec’s courage disappeared and he just waved it off. ‘’Nothing important,’’ mumbled Alec and then sighed. ‘’Um, so about those cocktails?’’ asked Alec and Magnus smiled. Very well, he guessed that the cocktail making lessons were on! And with Alec by his side, he didn’t mind it one bit!

* * *

‘’Mmm, you’ve outdone yourself, Alexander,’’ said Magnus softly as he took a sip of drink that Alec had brought over to him and Alec had the broadest of smiles he had seen in a while. It made his heart warm up and he happily sat onto the couch next to Magnus. ‘’Not having any?’’ asked Magnus when he saw that Alec was sitting next to him empty handed, but the hunter only shrugged.

‘’I think I had enough with all the test tasting before,’’ said Alec as he wanted to remain sober and Magnus nodded, giving him a happy smile and Alec then clasped his hands together, trying to remember his memorised speech from before, but it wasn’t working. ‘’I, um,’’ said Alec and Magnus looked at him. 

‘’I really enjoy spending time with you, Alexander,’’ said Magnus out of the blue and Alec’s cheeks tinted red. ‘’It’s been awhile since I’ve opened my home to anyone, really,’’ said Magnus and Alec chewed on his lip. Oh, maybe this was going to be his chance? Maybe? ‘’But I feel that you… you’ve unlocked something in me,’’ said Magnus softly and Alec perked up. Oh, this was going to be totally his chance to ask him out! He just needed to actually remember how talking worked and he’d be good!

‘’Um, I, um,’’ stammered Alec and Magnus gave him a little chuckle. ‘’I also like spending time with you, Magnus,’’ finally said Alec and as soon as he said that, he noticed that the coffee pot, that was on the coffee table suddenly moved and his perked up, looking around the place and his eyes widened. Magnus noticed that as well and he cursed his father - for once in his life, he should just  _ not _ move or Alec was- ‘’D-did you see that?’’ asked Alec and pointed to the coffee pot and Magnus gave him a nervous smile.

‘’My magic acting up again,’’ said Magnus.

‘’B-but,’’ said Alec. ‘’You said that your clock rolls his eyes,’’ said Alec and then looked at the clock, that was now on the bookshelf and then narrowed his eyes. ‘’Is your apartment alive?’’ he then asked as he was on the edge again and Magnus bit his lip. 

‘’Not quite,’’ said Magnus, but also didn’t deny it. ‘’It’s just… a bit  _ different.  _ But nothing for you to worry about, Angel,’’ said Magnus, the nickname slipping off his tongue and for a moment, Alec was able to forget  _ that _ and he rather focused on the nickname!  _ Angel!  _ He was internally melting. 

‘’Actually,’’ said Alec finally. ‘’I was thinking,’’ he then said and Magnus arched his eyebrow. ‘’Instead of, um, always being here, maybe we could change location?’’ asked Alec and Magnus felt his face getting pale. ‘’There’s, um, this bar. The Hunter’s Moon, maybe we could go grab a drink, or something,’’ said Alec and then looked down. ‘’Maybe, like a date, if you’d like? I don’t know, I don’t usually do this, but I really  _ like _ you and maybe,’’ said Alec, biting his lip. ‘’Since you appear to like me as well… or so I  _ hope, _ I thought that-’’ started Alec again, but then looked at Magnus, who was looking away. ‘’Or-or not,’’ he quickly said. ‘’I don’t… want to be pushy. I mean-’’ stammered Alec as his voice was shaking. This took a lot of him, to put himself on the spot like that and bear his feelings, so being rejected by  _ Magnus _ hurt.

‘’I can’t,’’ whispered Magnus and Alec quickly started backtracking. 

‘’O-oh! There’s somebody else?’’

‘’No, that’s not it.’’

‘’Oh, then you just don’t like me in  _ that  _ way. No, I mean I get it,’’ rambled Alec. ‘’I’m not really interesting. I mean you’re centuries old and probably need someone more… fun than a boring Shadowhunter-’’

‘’Alexander, stop rambling and let me speak,’’ said Magnus with a chuckle and Alec stopped talking. ‘’I would  _ love _ to go out on a proper date with you,’’ said Magnus. ‘’The thing is… I really can’t,’’ said Magnus. ‘’As in physically leave my apartment,’’ said Magnus finally and Alec narrowed his eyes as he didn’t get it. ‘’Some of the rumours might be true,’’ muttered Magnus and then looked down. ‘’ _ Something  _ happened and now I’m stuck here,’’ said Magnus and rubbed his forehead. That was as far as he was intending to tell Alexander for now. Eventually, he’d have to tell him the whole truth, but not yet.

‘’Oh, what happened?’’

‘’Nothing for you to worry about, Alexander,’’ said Magnus and shrugged. 

‘’Can you, like, fix it?’’

‘’I’m trying,’’ said Magnus and there was a mixed emotion flashing in his eyes. Alec narrowed his eyes again, but then decided not to ask further as it looked like it was something painful. 

‘’An evil witch bitch is what happened,’’ suddenly said a voice behind Magnus and Alec froze, looking up and Magnus started shaking his head.  _ No, no, no.  _ They had a deal! But Maia was done with keeping quiet.

‘’M-Magnus, w-who said that?’’ stammered Alec and his voice started shaking.

‘’Maia, shush, you’re ruining things,’’ said the  _ cat _ and Alec’s jaw dropped. Right, the cat spoke! And it was all true - it wasn’t his imagination at all!

‘’All of you be quiet,’’ spoke the  _ coffee pot _ and Alec looked at the door, feeling his heart jumping up to his throat. Then the coffee pot turned around and Alec could see that it had eyes, nose and lips! ‘’Magnus, I’m sorry that these…’’ said Asmodeus, but then when he turned around he saw Alec for the very first time and he cooed. ‘’Oh! Magnus!’’ he said loudly. ‘’He’s very pretty for a Shadowhunter!’’ said Asmodeus loudly and Magnus started kissing his last chance goodbye. People usually left when they saw things talking and moving, though it was never like  _ this.  _ All of them speaking at the same time. ‘’You’re totally Magnus’ type!’’ announced Asmodeus loudly and Alec swallowed thickly.

‘’Shut up, father,’’ hissed Magnus through his teeth.

‘’I-I… what the hell is happening here?’’ asked Alec as he was already on his legs and was walking backwards. This was all too much, he couldn’t handle it. His head was spinning and then the clock glared him again and he-

‘’Alexander, I can explain,’’ said Magnus and his voice was shaking as well. ‘’I-’’

‘’I, um, I need to go,’’ mumbled Alec. ‘’Institute needs me, yeah… that’s it, I-I- I’ll call you,’’ was stuttering Alec and then literally ran out of the door, closing them with a loud slam and then leaned against the wall once he was outside, breathing rapidly as he needed to clear his thoughts. And as Alec left, Magnus dropped his glass and then bowed his head.

‘’So much for him being different,’’ said Magnus sadly and then felt anger bubble up from within. Ugh, if he could get his hands on Camille, then he’d…  _ ugh!  _ Dark magic started sparking from underneath his fingers and he growled again, trying to keep calm, but- ‘’Fuck this, I’m so over this whole thing,’’ he then said in the end, smashing a glass with the magic and then just roared loudly. ‘’It’s over, I’m done. It’s all in vain,’’ he said, sitting back down and then hid his face into his palms, trying to ignore the heat in his eyes, but-

Alec jumped when he heard the growls and roars and he placed his hands on top of his mouth. No, no, no! He couldn’t believe he just  _ ran.  _ Magnus  _ told _ him that if he stuck around that he’d see, so… Alec started mentally kicking himself for being so lame and in the end he couldn’t just leave. Yes, he was freaked out, but he really,  _ really _ liked Magnus so he took in a deep breath and then stepped back inside. He needed to apologise. And as soon as the door opened, Magnus looked up at him, eyes wide. 

Alexander was back? And so… soon? People never came back, so Magnus was in shock.

‘’I, um,’’ stammered Alec and then took in a deep breath. ‘’I’m sorry,’’ said Alec and Magnus’ eyes were even wider. ‘’I shouldn’t have ran like that, it was… I’m just really freaked out,’’ said Alec and Magnus stepped closer.

‘’Alexander, why did you come back?’’ asked Magnus softly. ‘’People usually don’t-’’

‘’I like you,’’ said Alec, determinedly and Magnus’ jaw dropped. ‘’I’m… freaked out, I’m not going to lie, but,’’ said Alec and looked around the place. The coffee pot was literally buzzing with excitement, because  _ Alexander came back and he was so totally excited for his boy!  _ Alexander  _ was  _ different! ‘’I want to stay and… meet your furniture?’’ asked Alec, making Magnus giggle and the warlock then nodded. ‘’This is so weird,’’ said Alec when he saw Ragnor waving to him.

‘’But… good weird?’’ asked Magnus hopefully and stepped closer, the back of his hand grazing softly against Alec’s and the hunter took his hand, holding Magnus’ finger with his own and he then nodded.

‘’Definitely,’’ said Alec and Magnus was so happy that he could quite possible cry. 

Alexander didn’t run, but he  _ stayed.  _


	3. Chapter 3

Standing in his bedroom, Magnus felt his heart ache as he watched another rose petal falling off the rose and he bit his lower lip. Not only that he could see the time running out, but he could also feel it. Before he could easily control the _ beast _ within him, but now it was getting harder and harder. There were times that it completely consumed him and he needed a while to get back to his senses, which is why he was terrified of himself. He was afraid that one day he’d be pushed over the edge so much that he couldn’t come back from it. He had friends that helped him to come back to his usual, loving self, but it was getting harder even for them. It was beginning to get harder for them to move or speak and it terrified Magnus that one day they would stop talking back _ and _ moving, staying as pieces of furniture permanently, feeling another squeeze at his heart and he just swallowed back his worries. 

Instead, he should be worrying how he’d tell Alexander about _ himself. _ Alec not running away after he saw his apartment coming alive was a good sign and it filled the warlock with _ hope. _ Maybe there was still a chance for him to come back from this. He was biting on his lip as he listened to the laughter in the living room. Alexander was over _ again _ and Magnus slowly smiled, sighing. He should probably get back in there quickly as he didn’t want his father or any of the others to say _ too much. _Or embarrass him in any way - he didn’t know what would be worse. 

It’s been another week that had passed, which made only a month and a half for Alexander to fall in love with him. Not just in the glamour of himself, but for him to love his _ real _face. Not that it was his real face, but the face that was casted upon him when Camille put a curse on his loft and everyone in them. The curse had frozen them in time, yet the time was still running out far too quickly for Magnus’ liking and for the first time in his immortal life he felt his days being numbered. And it wasn’t a good feeling - he wondered how mortals could keep on living despite knowing that their lives on Earth were numbered. Maybe that was why they tried to live their lives to the fullest. 

Before going back to the living room, Magnus dared to step in front of the mirror and slowly drop his glamour. He couldn’t bare to look at himself like _ this, _ but he forced himself to look up and he felt revolted, truly. The fangs, the claws… no wonder that it sent people running out and his lower lip trembled, touching the glass of the mirror as he tried to give himself a bit of a pep talk, but- ‘’Magnus,’’ said Maia and Magnus quickly turned around, snapping his fingers and the glamour was back up. ‘’You have to get back out there, Alec will start wondering where you are,’’ said the wardrobe and Magnus slowly nodded.

‘’I know,’’ muttered Magnus and then sadly looked at the mirror again. 

‘’You truly care for this Shadowhunter, don’t you?’’ she then asked and Magnus gave her a little nod. They were still getting to know each other, a couple of weeks wasn’t a lot, especially for someone like Magnus, but he somehow felt as if he had known Alexander his whole life. He was charming and funny, his heart big and he wasn’t like the other hunters - he wasn’t narrow minded, but he was open and was just in awe with his apartment. He was already friends with everyone, more or less and it made Magnus smile. 

‘’I do,’’ said Magnus. ‘’I just hope it’s not too late,’’ he then mumbled and Maia sighed.

‘’I hope so too,’’ she said and then before she could add anything else, the door opened and Alec’s head popped inside, peeking in and he made Magnus chuckle. 

‘’There you are!’’ pointed out Alec and then went to get Magnus. ‘’You just left before,’’ said Alec and then started leading Magnus back into his living room, where he saw all of his friends gathered around the couch and he cocked his head to the side. ‘’They were all telling me some pretty interesting stories about you,’’ said Alec happily and Magnus gave them an offended look and his face reddened.

‘’_ Stories?’’ _ asked Magnus, his voice getting high pitched because he didn’t trust his friends when it came to that. Oh, they knew very well how to embarrass him and he needed to find out what was said _ immediately, _ because- ‘’Ragnor, Raphae, what did you tell him?’’ asked Magnus then and stepped to the clock and candelabra. The clock glared back, because he was offended. How did Magnus just _ assume _ that it was him who told the stories?! Ragnor, on the other hand, started only cracking up and Magnus let out a low snarl, Alec’s eyes widening.

‘’Magnus, what-’’

‘’Nothing,’’ said Magnus in the end and quickly controlled his emotions. ‘’I just want to know what they told you,’’ said Magnus and Alec bit into his lip.

‘’They told me how big your heart is and how you never turn your back on your friends,’’ mumbled Alec as he decided to keep the embarrassing parts as a secret for now. Magnus perked up and looked around, Ragnor quickly nodding and then a sheepish smile spread across his lips. ‘’Also, the coffee pot… I mean your father,’’ said Alec and then rubbed his neck. ‘’Man that’s strange, I promise I’ll get used to it one day. My apologies Mr Bane,’’ said Alec politely and the coffee pot was in awe. Such a well mannered Shadowhunter! 

‘’Alec, would you like to marry my son?’’ asked Asmodeus out of the blue, but he really couldn’t help himself. The Shadowhunter was the best son in law he could ever wish for and it was just amazing! Magnus’ cheeks reddened and Alec chuckled. "I mean for when you two lovebirds are ready, I just want you to know that you have my full support. Just pop the question and you'll make me the happiest man on the planet," said Asmodeus and Alec started laughing. Wouldn't be the happiest man on the planet Magnus in that case? Alec just bit his lip and didn't say anything, but Magnus wanted to tape his mouth shut, because his father was-

"Father, we have met only two weeks ago," said Magnus and then grumbled, narrowing his eyes and he crossed his arms on top of his chest. He knew that his father meant no harm as he just had an excitable personality, but it had already sent one person running away. He was just too forward and Magnus wanted this relationship to work out properly. It was already kind of late, so his father could possibly slow down the whole process, but he was in for quite a surprise as Alec was only laughing and didn't seem to be too bothered by it. He really wasn't if he was being honest and he was also used to this as his mother was just as the coffee- _ Asmodeus. _ Alec was still kind of in awe and shock as he knew that Asmodeus was a _ greater demon _ , but his personality was anything _ but _a demon. 

"I don't really mind, Magnus," said Alec and then bit his lip. "I mean my mother is pretty much the same if I'm being honest. Always too keen on me getting married," said Alec. But it wasn't like she was actively seeking out potential partners for him, that wasn't her. She just commenter _ a lot _how much she couldn't wait to finally have some grandchildren and Magnus gave him a relieved smile and then he bit his lip. "Oh, well," said Alec and then took Magnus' hand and took him into the kitchen. "Come, I have something I want to show you," said Alec as a little excited smile spread across his face. While Magnus was in his room, Alec also took the liberty of setting up the table, with the help of all the others and Magnus cocked his head to the side.

"What's all of this?" whispered Magnus, who was in awe. At the moment they were alone in the kitchen, but Magnus could tell that everyone was at the door listening to the two of them and he huffed.

"I was just thinking that since we can't go out for a dinner date," said Alec softly and stepped closer to Magnus, who looked at him and blinked a few times. "I thought that we could have it here," he then added and Magnus felt emotional all of the sudden and Alec smiled when he saw how touched the warlock looked. It was just… It had been such a long time that someone did something nice _ for him. _That- "What do you say? No?" asked Alec as Magnus was quiet and Magnus only shook his head.

"No, I mean yes," said Magnus and then chuckled, looking down and Alec cocked his head. "Yes," said Magnus after settling down and then leaned closer to Alec. "I'm just… Speechless," said Magnus softly and Alec gave him a proud smile. "In a good way," he then quickly said and looked at the clock. "Don't you have to return back though?" asked Magnus as Alec always left after a couple of hours. Being the Head of the Institute truly was no joke, but Alec shook his head.

"I'm staying longer today," said Alec. "If you're okay with it."

"Of course I am," said Magnus and bit his lip. "So, um, you cooked?" asked Magnus and Alec shook his head.

"By the Angel no!" said Alec and Magnus laughed. "My cooking would kill off your immortality. No, no," said Alec and Magnus' laughter grew louder. "I ordered pizza," he then explained and Magnus smiled, taking Alec's hand gently into his own and then gently cradled Alec's face. "Am I a good boyfriend or what?" he then asked.

_ Boyfriend. _

Caught up in the moment, both of them started leaning in, but then the doorbell rang and their moment was interrupted, Alec quickly excusing himself with a bright flush on his cheeks as he went to pay for the pizza. And Magnus? He sighed happily. _ So close. _

* * *

Magnus was smiling as he listened Alec speaking while they ate, nodding along and then sighed happily. Alec could feel Magnus’ eyes on him as his cheeks were faintly dusted in the fairest shades of pink, making the hunter appear that more adorable and Magnus sighed happily. He could listen to Alec talk all day, but it made the Shadowhunter feel a bit bad - all he did was talk about himself. He wanted to know more about the warlock, so he stopped talking and then chuckled, making Magnus hum. ‘’I’m sorry, all I do is talk about myself,’’ said Alec and Magnus waved it off.

‘’Oh I don’t mind one bit,’’ said Magnus with the huge smile on his face. ‘’It’s lovely to hear someone else beside me and _ them _speak,’’ said Magnus and Alec nodded. Yeah, he couldn’t even imagine how it must had been for Magnus to be trapped like that in your own house. 

‘’Yeah,’’ said Alec and then made a pause. ‘’But I want to get to know you a bit better as well,’’ said Alec and then felt how the atmosphere suddenly died in the room and he chewed on his lip. ‘’O-or maybe not,’’ he quickly added. ‘’I just thought that, um, never mind,’’ finished Alec his sentence and Magnus gave him a sad smile. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk about his past, but it was too… _ ugh. _Talking about himself made him feel miserable. 

‘’No it’s fine,’’ said Magnus and then clasped his hands together. ‘’There’s just not much to tell,’’ said Magnus and Alec found it hard to believe, but he didn’t say anything and then silence fell between them. And the gang, listening behind the door, started panicking, because this wasn’t a good sign. All was going good until then and Raphael started walking around nervously, his candles flailing around and Raphael gave him an annoyed look.

‘’You’ll burn us all!’’ grumbled Raphael, but Ragnor ignored him and then hummed. 

‘’Guys, we have to do something,’’ said Ragnor instead as the clock was still bitching, but everyone had learned how to tune out the grumpy vampire by then. They were all on Ragnor’s side, because they could tell that the atmosphere in there wasn’t the best and Asmodeus hopped over to the door.

‘’Maybe I should chime in and-’’

‘’No,’’ said Catarina. ‘’You’ll make it worse,’’ she said and the coffee pot looked at her, glaring, but the cat hissed and Asmodeus stopped. Yeah, they truly needed an expert, someone who knew how relationships worked and- that was when Meliorn, the feather duster, slowly descended down and they all stopped talking. _ Someone like him! _they all thought in unison and he cleared his throat. 

‘’I see I’ll be needed,’’ said Meliorn and Ragnor quickly nodded.

‘’Please!’’ said Ragnor.

‘’Help out my boy!’’ chimed Asmodeus in as well and the feather duster only nodded, flew up again and flew into the kitchen, just like that, completely unannounced and Magnus’ eyes widened, Alec looking up completely mesmerised and his eyes widened when Meliorn flew right to the middle of the table and looked to the two loverbirds, who were currently still quiet and Magnus gritted his teeth.

‘’Meliorn, what the hell?’’ hissed Magnus through his teeth.

‘’Here to save the day,’’ announced Meliorn proudly and Magnus rolled his eyes - oh, great. This was ought to be interesting, but Alec seemed to be completely amazed. Since when could the feather dusters fly?! ‘’Magnus and Alec, if you’ll both follow me,’’ he then said and flew up again, Magnus narrowing his eyes, but did as he was told and Alec followed Meliorn back into the living room. They were luckily all done with the dinner anyway.

Magnus narrowed his eyes, because it was so very obvious that the others were listening to them before, even though they were all pretending to be something else and Alec chuckled. Magnus’ friends were so much fun and were all interesting! Alec watched how the feather duster elegantly made his way to the stereo, turned it on and _ of course _ put on a very cheesy, romantic song and all in the room, including Magnus rolled their eyes. Alec smiled though, finding it hilarious how Meliorn instructed them both to sit and he just did as he was told.

‘’Meliorn, what-’’

‘’Sit,’’ said the feather duster and Magnus rolled his eyes again, but did as he was told. ‘’Good, now hold hands,’’ he said and lifted Magnus’ hand with all his might and then placed it over Alec’s, which was resting on the couch and then he cleared his throat. ‘’Ragnor, Meow, bring the album,’’ said Meliorn and Magnus’ jaw dropped as he watched the candelabra climbing onto the bookshelf, slowly throwing the photo album onto the footstool, who was waiting at the bottom of it and the cat happily meowed - well, the _ footstool, _but it was a cat, reminded himself Alec. 

‘’Guys, what the hell are you-’’

‘’Shh, just go with the flow,’’ said Meliorn as Chairman brought the photo album to the couple on the couch and then patiently waited for Magnus to take it and he looked at Alec, who was laughing softly. They were all hilariously adorable. ‘’Now, we’ll leave the two of you alone,’’ said Meliorn and looked at the gang, who all groaned, but eventually followed him into Magnus’ room and they were again all alone in the living room, Magnus sighing, but Alec scooted closer and looked at the photo album curiously. 

‘’So,’’ said Alec and Magnus chuckled.

‘’Yeah,’’ said Magnus. ‘’Sorry about them, they’re… _ yeah, _ ’’ said Magnus, but he completely understood where they were all coming from and he looked at the album in his lap. It’s been ages since he had last opened it and he pressed his lips together. ‘’I guess since we’re already here, I can tell you more about myself, huh,’’ joked Magnus and Alec happily nodded, looking forward to all of the photos. Magnus felt grateful to Meliorn and the rest, because he really needed _ that _push to open himself up again to someone. And Alec was just happily listening to everything that Magnus was saying, explaining to him every photo and Alec was just… falling more and more for Magnus.

Two weeks of knowing him wasn’t much, but Alec had already the feeling that Magnus could be _ the one! _

* * *

‘’Oh, and this one is Ragnor and I in London back in the 50s,’’ said Magnus, flipping the pages and Alec was curiously looking at Magnus. Ah, no matter in which era it was, Magnus looked amazing - he could pull each and every look. Magnus looked at Alec, who still wasn’t done staring and the warlock laughed softly. 

‘’Adorable,’’ muttered Alec, but Magnus heard him and he looked down at the photo again and he bit his lip. ‘’I mean _ you _ are adorable no matter what,’’ carried on Alec and Magnus chuckled, feeling Alec’s arm around his waist and he allowed the hunter to pull him a bit closer and he snuggled up to him. _ Ah, what a feeling. _He had missed this so much, biting his lip as Alec turned the page and he smiled fondly again. There were him, Catarina and Ragnor on the photo, Raphael glaring from behind and Alec giggled. ‘’Raphael?’’ asked Alec and Magnus nodded.

‘’Yep, that’s him,’’ said Magnus, finding it hilarious how Alec was able to figure it out so quickly, but it was true. That grumpy gaze was recognisable no matter what form Raphael was in. ‘’Oh, and that’s Marcel,’’ said Magnus, tapping on the photo and Alec nodded, turning the page and Magnus snuck a glance up at Alec, sighing happily. Ah, those Bambi eyes and that _ smile, _ his eyes dropping onto Alec’s Deflect rune, which looked just yummy and he pressed his lips together. Alexander was _ everything. _

To be honest, Magnus was completely tuning out everything in the background, but actually, Raphael and Ragnor were again bickering, Raphael making fun of Ragnor, who was now chasing him around the room, threatening him to burn his ass off again. But he didn’t notice that at all. He could hear his doorbell ringing, but without thinking twice, he just opened the door with his magic and then gazed upon Alexander again. His eyelashes were so long and his lips so yummy and plump. He wondered how they’d feel moving against his, swallowing thickly. 

‘’I’ll burn you, get your ass back here!’’ yelled Ragnor, running around the clock, who was trying his best to run away. Catarina was telling them to settle down and Asmodeus was officially sick of them - the loft was in complete chaos, to which Magnus and Alec were completely oblivious to. But, the one who had stepped inside of the apartment for sure wasn’t!

Theodore Underhill _ needed _ to speak to Alec that day - Alec’s mother was coming to the Institute from Idris the next day, and Alec was really _ needed _ there, but he was nowhere to be seen. Underhill tried calling him, but Alec didn’t pick up. He tried tracking him with his tracking rune, but that _ also _ didn’t work. However, what did work was the GPS on his phone - _ thank God for the technology. _ Being the Head of the Security gave him a few perks, one of them being able to track other hunters in the case of emergencies. And Maryse coming to the Institute _ was _ an emergency, Underhill using it to find Alec and much to his luck he was located somewhere in Brooklyn. 

Upon hour or two of searching around, he finally came upon something that looked like where his boss could be located, so he knocked onto the door of the apartment, which opened on itself, took in a deep breath and walked right into the middle of _ that _ chaos. The candelabra chasing the clock around, the coffee pot hopping up and down and Underhill’s jaw dropped, because there was Alec, sitting next to a handsome man, but seemed completely _ unbothered _ by the fact that half of the furniture in the loft was _ alive. _Yes, alive. Plus the cat was talking and Underhill needed to sit down. 

‘’There’s another guest!’’ piped up Meliorn and Magnus slowly turned to the door, realising his mistake. Right, he was completely distracted that he didn’t even think twice about opening up the door and he-

‘’I-I sorry for intrude, but… Alec! Help!’’ said Underhill and Alec’s jaw dropped - what the hell was Underhill doing over at Magnus’?!

‘’You know him?’’ asked Magnus and narrowed his eyes.

‘’Um, yes, he’s a friend of mine,’’ said Alec and Magnus crossed his arms on top of his chest - Alec had some pretty handsome friends! And- ‘’Theo, what are you doing here?’’ asked Alec, stepping closer to the blonde hunter and Underhill didn’t know what to do. Poor guy looked completely lost and so, _ so _confused! 

‘’I tried calling you, but you weren’t picking up and-’’ started Underhill and then grabbed Alec’s shoulders. ‘’Boss, do you see all of this?!’’ asked Underhill and Alec nodded.

‘’Um, yes, yes I do,’’ said Alec and chuckled. ‘’And why did you need me?’’

‘’Oh-oh! Right! Your mother is coming tomorrow from Idris!’’ said Underhill and Alec’s eyes widened. Right! That was quite the _ emergency _and he shuddered. ‘’So, I just… I need to sit down,’’ said Underhill as there was still chaos in the room and he sat onto the chair, breathing in and out and-

‘’Fancy a cup of tea?’’ asked a voice.

Underhill looked up and nodded. ‘’Yes, thank would be lovely, thank you,’’ said Theo, not really knowing who offered him the tea, but there was a cup and he quickly grabbed for it.

‘’Drink up, this is chamomile, it’ll calm you down,’’ said the _ same _ voice again. ‘’Oh, you have such strong hands you have there!’’ said someone again and upon looking down Underhill figured it out - it cup was talking. The cup was talking. It was- why the fuck was the cup _ flirting _ with him?! Alec was dying with laughter as he watched Marcel, the tiny teacup, flirting his heart out with Underhill, who needed help!

Marcel really couldn’t help himself - his jaw hit the tray as soon as he saw the ne _ guest _stepping inside of the loft. Another Shadowhunter, Marcel’s lucky day and Underhill almost dropped him, but then quickly grabbed him again. ‘’I-I-’’

‘’Oh, such a strong grip!’’

‘’Marcel!’’ said Magnus and Marcel looked at him.

‘’Oh, now what? You have your own Shadowhunter, let me enjoy _ mine,’’ _ said Marcel and happily blinked up at the curly, who was pale and confused. ‘’So, where were we?’’ asked Marcel and Underhill looked at Alec.

‘’Help me,’’ he mouthed and Alec quickly stepped in, Marcel pouting when he was put down, sulking. It was only after an hour or so, after Alec introduced Magnus _ and the others _ that Underhill calmed down a little bit. Technically he understood that the flirty cup was a vampire, but it was just so odd… yet! Underhill found him cute. 

It made sense? Not really, but Underhill kept carrying the cup around with him for a little while, making Magnus a promise that he wouldn’t tell anyone of what he had seen inside of his loft. Only then he was allowed permission to come back. And Alec was really happy that Magnus was able to meet one of his friends. 

The whole evening was just a big success in Magnus’ book - he and Alec were getting closer! Maybe soon he’d allow himself to drop a piece of his glamour. The mask would come down gradually, piece by piece and he only hoped Alec would be able to handle it. 


	4. Chapter 4

Alec was pacing around the Institute as he was waiting for the arrival of his mother. It was the next day and he was biting his nails, asking himself if he had done something wrong, thus making Jace and Isabelle even more nervous. All three of them were waiting for their mother, that they didn’t see since the  _ divorce _ and Alec couldn’t even imagine how she was holding up with the divorce. The last time they’ve seen Maryse, she wasn’t in a really good mood, not that they could blame her anyway, but still. And with all the groaning and whining Alec was doing, he was driving both of his siblings insane, Jace pulling him by the side, holding his forearm and Alec gave him an offended look.

‘’Alec, listen, you know I love you, but if you don’t stop circling around us like a nervous cat, I’ll make you sit down on the chair and will tie you up to keep you still, I’m not even kidding,’’ said Jace and Alec rolled his eyes and then looked at his sister for some backup, but she decided to be a traitor this time as she sided with Jace. But could he really blame her? No, because he was even driving himself insane with all the worrying that he was doing and it was just too much. He wanted to run over to Magnus’ and hide there until she’d leave again for Idris.

‘’I’ll help him, you know,’’ warned him Isabelle and Alec only rolled his eyes  _ again _ , but then settled down the best way he could and he just stood there, supporting himself again the wall and was just chewing on his lip nervously, looking around the Institute. There was Underhill sending him thumbs up and Alec gave him a little smile. Behind him, Brian was standing, who  _ of course _ thought that Alec was smiling at him and Alec only ducked his head down and  _ prayed _ for his mother to get there faster. Yes, he was that desperate and Alec then rubbed his palms together and puffed his cheeks. 

It wasn’t like Maryse was this scary mother, but in the past she was very strict. The last time they’ve seen her, she was really on the edge as her marriage with Robert was coming to an end and it just wasn’t a good place for her. So, Alec was now worried how she was handling things and he was only happy that he wasn’t waiting for her alone and when the elevator opened, all of the Lightwoods looked at each other and Jace pushed Alec towards Maryse first - he was the oldest  _ and _ the Head of the Institute, so he should welcome their mother in New York and Alec finally plucked up the courage, took in a deep breath and walked over to their mother.

Alec expected many things, but he didn’t expect to see their mother  _ glowing.  _ Yes, she was literally glowing and Alec narrowed his eyes. Not only that, but she had her hair down, had it cut and was that a new dress that  _ wasn’t _ in dark colours? It was a vibrant red dress, Alec blinking a few times and there was a smile on her face that he didn’t see in literal ages. Alec looked at Izzy and Jace, who looked as astonished as he did - they truly weren’t used to seeing their mother like this. ‘’Mom?’’ asked Alec as if he was trying to make sure that the woman in front of him truly was their mother. Maryse  _ laughed _ and then gave her oldest son the biggest hug she could muster.

‘’My boy,’’ she said happily, pulled back from the hug and then gently cupped Alec’s cheek, pinched it and then giggled when Alec was just staring at her. ‘’Jace, Izzy, it’s been weeks, come give me a hug,’’ she then said and the other two didn’t need to be told twice, Izzy running into her arms as Jace stood by and waited for his turn to hug Maryse. ‘’I missed you all so much,’’ she then added and then crossed her arms on top of her chest and pressed her lips together. All of her children were just looking at each other as they were completely speechless to what to say. ‘’Um, what’s with the silence?’’ she then asked and Alec opened his mouth.

‘’Is this really you mom?’’ blurted out Alec and Maryse narrowed her eyes - what was that supposed to mean? Should she be offended? ‘’You look great, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve expected that… I mean… with the divorce and, um, dad-’’ started Alec and then bit his tongue as he didn’t want to put their mother in a bad mood right upon her arrival, but in the end, Maryse only sighed and shrugged it off.

‘’Mom, we’re glad to see you so happy,’’ said Izzy quickly and Maryse nodded.

‘’Yeah, I’m glad you’re feeling better now, Maryse,’’ chimed Jace in and the woman was all smiles.

‘’Thank you,’’ she said and then made a short pause. ‘’I was in a really dark place for quite a while, but then I saw that I needed to move forward and not dwell on the past,’’ she said and hummed, walking past her children and then turned around to them again after a little while. ‘’All I can say is that I’m much happier now after leaving Robert,’’ said Maryse and the trio all agreed.

‘’And Max?’’ asked Izzy.

‘’He’s in Idris, with Robert now,’’ explained Maryse and then shrugged. ‘’It’s a shared custody, so all’s good,’’ she then said - to see her children worry so much about her brought a smile on her face. It showed that she did a good job with raising them up. And not only that, but it showed her that they were growing up so fast. Much too fast for her liking and she then only smiled. ‘’But enough about me, what’s been going on with you three?’’ asked Maryse, looking at Izzy. ‘’How’s your vampire friend, Isabelle?’’ she then asked, talking about Simon. It was then that Izzy looked down and her cheeks were bright red.

‘’Oh, mom, do I have news for you!’’ said Alec happily as his excitement was off the charts then. ‘’I saw Izzy and Simon _kissing_ yesterday,’’ said Alec as if he was five, Izzy not liking how happy her brother was about that and Maryse let out a surprised, but happy sigh and she looked at Izzy, who was now still flushing and wanting to make Alec shut up.

‘’Alec!’’ whined Izzy.

‘’So, you two are dating now?’’ asked Jace as that was news for him too - for weeks, Izzy claimed that they were only friends, but Jace was smarter than that. He could see how they would look at each other, so he wasn’t really surprised. 

‘’Haven’t put any labels on it yet,’’ said Izzy and then smiled. ‘’But it seems we’re heading that way, yes,’’ she finally said in the end and Maryse hugged her and then looked at Alec. ‘’Alec has also-’’ started Izzy, wanting to revenge herself and tell on Alec, but then they were approached by no other than Brian himself and Alec already started hissing. Maryse narrowed her eyes when they were suddenly approached by the other hunter and she quickly took a step back and-

Oh, she knew all about this Brian, if she was being honest. She knew that he was after Alec, it wasn’t only once that he came to her to express his  _ feelings  _ for him. But not only that, he gave out that  _ douche _ vibes and he was as dumb as it could get. However, as she wanted to remain polite, she put on a very forced smile, not that he really noticed that and he took in a deep sigh. ‘’Mrs Lightwood, how lovely to finally see you again,’’ said Brian and Maryse looked at his hand when he offered it to her. It took a lot from her to take it and shake it, quickly pulling it back and then she gritted her teeth.

‘’Brian, what a lovely surprise,’’ she lied and Jace was in the back holding in his laughter - he couldn’t take Maryse seriously. 

‘’And what brings you to the Institute?’’

‘’Oh, just wanted to check up on my lovely children,’’ she said and Brian’s eyes stopped on Alec.

‘’Lovely he is,’’ said Brian and Alec was the one who was holding his laughter at that point, because how could he  _ not _ ?! He didn’t get this one, he really didn’t. Telling him that he wasn’t interested didn’t work… maybe something simpler could work. Maybe he could draw it to him - to simplify it for him. Pictures could work, then again, his IQ was so low that it made Alec worry that he probably could never understand it. Ugh. Some people. ‘’There’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you,’’ said Brian all of the sudden and Maryse looked at him.

‘’Huh?’’

‘’It’s for your son’s hand in marriage,’’ he said quickly and quite seriously and that was when Marye broke as well, bursting into loud laughter as this was freaking hilarious. Brian narrowed his eyes and didn’t get why all of them were laughing at him all of the sudden. Maryse honestly thought that he was only joking around, but after seeing his reaction, she quickly stopped and then shook her head.

‘’Oh, you were being serious,’’ she said, making Isabelle giggle again and Alec looked at him.

‘’Dude, how many times do I have to tell you that I’m not interested?’’ asked Alec and rolled his eyes. ‘’Besides, I’m dating Magnus, so piss off, will you?’’ he then asked and Maryse happily looked up at him. Magnus - who was this Magnus that his son spoke of? 

‘’Alec, who’s Magnus?’’ asked Maryse happily and winked. Alec flushed and Izzy whistled.

‘’Magnus Bane,’’ she said and waggled her eyebrows. Maryse clasped her hands together and her eyes widened. 

‘’You’re dating  _ the Magnus Bane?’’ _ asked Maryse and her voice had gotten high pitched. ‘’Oh, you have to tell me  _ everything _ ,’’ said Maryse and Alec quickly nodded - of course! He was actually meaning to tell his mom about his new boyfriend and he quickly invited all of them into his office, where he spilled everything!

And there was Brian, jealous bubbling within him. ‘’Magnus Bane, Magnus Bane… it’s always  _ him, _ ’’ he grumbled and then made fists with his hands.

* * *

‘’Magnus, your place is huge,’’ commented on Alec. It was about a week later and he was again hanging out at Magnus’ place, like he always did - it because his daily routine. After work, he’d go and visit Magnus. Sometimes he did it even in between missions. Truly, every little amount of free time that he had he spent it thinking or hanging out with Magnus and he had so many feelings that he didn’t even know how to put it words. Currently, the two were strolling down a hall and the warlock had a little smile on his face, biting his lip and then looked around his place - he was quite proud of it.

‘’Let’s just say fourty years gave me enough of time to expand this place beyond the limitations - my magic truly does bend the rules of nature,’’ said Magnus, petting himself on his back, but it was true - he spend decades on expanding this place. It was all held up with his magic. If he couldn’t go outside it, he’d at least create himself his own personal happy haven and Alec was in awe. Sometimes, Magnus’ place appeared huger than the others - it depended on the day and how Magnus was feeling. There were days that he prefered a small, cosy place and then on the other days - like this one - he prefered having a bigger place, almost like a palace.

‘’You’re truly so amazing,’’ said Alec happily and Magnus felt his cheeks reddening a little bit. It’s been a while since he had gotten a compliment. For the past three weeks, Alec was making sure that he always complimented him, but Magnus still wasn’t used to it. It’s been quite a while and it would take him even longer before he’d really understand that Alec truly meant his words. But would he mean them after he’d drop his glamour and bare his true form in front of the young Shadowhunter. Magnus shuddered at that thought, but then again, he knew that he needed strip down his mask - time was running out. All he had was a week over a month and then it would all be over. 

‘’Oh, Alexander,’’ said Magnus. ‘’You’re quite amazing yourself,’’ commented the warlock and the hunter sheepishly smiled and then reached for his hand. They took a turn to the left and Alec’s eyes widened when he saw that Magnus had his own terrasse. Just - it didn’t lead to the city, but to a…  _ field?  _ Magnus wore a sad smile when Alec noticed the field and he stepped closer, opening the door with a mere snap of his fingers and Alec let out a happy sigh.

‘’Oh, wow,’’ said Alec and then turned around to Magnus. Hold on a second - for the time of the day, the sun was shining way too brightly and- ‘’It’s not real, is it?’’ asked Alec and Magnus shook his head, making his way down the stairs and then he sat onto the bench, which was surrounded by beautiful roses. It wasn’t real, it was a mere illusion, but it helped Magnus cope not being able to leave the place. 

‘’No,’’ said Magnus and huffed. ‘’It’s just my magic… an illusion, if you may,’’ said Magnus and then shrugged. ‘’But, hey, it’s better than nothing,’’ said Magnus and there was a nervous smile on his face. Though, he missed the real thing. The glamour worked well on others, but it didn’t really work on Magnus - however, if he pretended hard enough, it seemed real enough and then he placed his hands together, Alec coming closer and then he sat down, looking up at the sky and he squinted he could see that the sky wasn’t really blue and-

‘’I-’’ stammered Alec and bit his lip. ‘’Just… who would be cruel to do this to you?’’ asked Alec angrily and Magnus let out a dry laugh. ‘’No, I mean it. Tell me and I’ll find them,’’ he said, his face darkening with anger. ‘’I’ll  _ make _ them fix it,’’ said Alec and then Magnus only reached up with his hand and gently held Alec’s cheek, shaking his head.

‘’Like I said, I’m working on it,’’ said Magnus and then looked down. ‘’I know it’s a lot of me to ask of you, but can we  _ not _ speak about that now?’’ asked Magnus and Alec perked up. ‘’I want to be able to spend these few hours that I have with you without thinking of that as well,’’ said Magnus and Alec in the end only nodded, apologised and then sighed happily, still holding Magnus’ hand. ‘’Marcel’s been asking about your friend,’’ said Magnus and Alec looked at him.

‘’Underhill?’’

‘’Yeah, he’s taken quite a shine at him,’’ said Magnus and grinned - the teacup wouldn’t stop asking him where Underhill was and when he’d come the next time. ‘’Bring him with you the next time or I’ll have to tape his mouth shut,’’ said Magnus and Alec laughed with him, scooted a bit closer to Magnus and then leaned against him, making Magnus chuckle. It was Alec that held Magnus’ cheek later on, reaching up to his hair and gently ran his fingers through Magnus’ soft, spiked up hair and made the warlock grin.

Alec huffed - Magnus was truly beautiful - inside and out, so whoever made Magnus suffer like this with this…  _ curse _ like Alec called it deserved to be put in prison for life. Or even tortured if he’d ever get his hands on them. But, he somehow managed to forget about that and instead focused on how pretty Magnus’ eyes looked. So warm and full of life - they sparkled brightly, were so full of wonder, yet there hid something. There was a secret behind those eyes, a masked heartbreak and…  _ fear?  _ Alec didn’t know how to explain it, but he could see that when he looked into Magnus’ eyes and he gave Magnus a soft gasp.

‘’You’re so beautiful,’’ whispered Alec, leaning in without even noticing it himself and Magnus gulped, his eyes flickering down onto Alec’s full lips and he shuddered once he looked up at the Shadowhunter, who had a little smile on his lips. Feeling Alec’s hand sliding behind his neck, he let his eyes flutter shut and his chest tightened, holding onto Alec’s jacket tightly as he was pulled in,  _ dying _ to feel Alec’s lips on his, yet they never met. As they were a few centimetres apart, Magnus’ eyes snapped open and he quickly shoved Alec away, the younger one snapping back to reality, thinking that he had done something wrong. But then he saw Magnus, who was hunched over and was taking in deep breaths.

Another petal fell from the rose, Magnus could feel it. It was like someone was eating off piece by piece of his soul, with each petal, there went a bit of his sanity, accompanied by a sharp pain, a growl escaping past Magnus’ lips and Alec’s eyes widened. It seemed that Magnus was in pain and Alec didn’t know what to do. And Magnus, he… was panicking. For once, he didn’t have his magic under control, so he couldn’t show his face to Alexander. His glamour was down, his face exposed and he was growling deeply, trying to be silent, but Alec  _ heard  _ him. He had to. And once Alec came closer, Magnus started moving away. 

‘’I-I’m so sorry, did I move too-’’

‘’No such thing,’’ said Magnus quickly and Alec flinched. Magnus’ voice sounded so…  _ different.  _ Usually, he was so soft spoken, but now he sounded different. His voice was sharp and deep, hoarse and there was this constant growl present that it made Alec wonder, all of the rumours that were heard about Mangus resurfacing in his memories and he- ‘’I just don’t feel so good,’’ said Magnus, face still hidden, turned around, but Alec could swear that he saw a pair of…  _ no, it was probably nothing.  _ Magnus struggled to keep his glamour up, but it wasn’t working, not really.

‘’Magnus, what’s wrong?’’ asked Alec, despite his heart hammering against his chest. ‘’Should I go get help or-’’

‘’You should get out,’’ said Magnus, growling and Alec’s eyes widened. 

‘’No,’’ said Alec firmly. ‘’I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay,’’ said the hunter and Magnus cursed his stubborn side. ‘’Magnus, look at me,’’ said Alec and Magnus shook his head, not wanting to turn around. He didn’t want Alec to hate him, no… it would be better not ever telling Alec who he truly was than to have him  _ hate _ on him and then run away. He could never bare to see  _ that _ look on Alec’s face - that look, which people made after he dropped his glamour. Sometimes it was enough if he only showed his warlock mark. He couldn’t bare it if that happened with Alexander. He cared too much for him, so it would be better just turning into a monster and stay like that forever. It would be less painful. 

‘’No,’’ whispered Magnus and Alec held Magnus’ shoulder, but then quickly released him after he felt Magnus freezing under his touch. ‘’I can’t,’’ whispered Magnus and Alec was even more confused.

‘’And why is that?’’ asked Alec seriously. ‘’T-tell me, huh?’’ begged him Alec and reached for Magnus’ hand again. Magnus felt his eyes welling up with tears as he was turned away from Alec, his lip trembling and Alec’s eyes widened when he heard Magnus’ hiccup.

‘’Because,’’ said Magnus. ‘’I’m this repulsive  _ monster,’ _ ’’ said Magnus and angrily clenched his jaw. ‘’I-’’

  
  
  


‘’Magnus, you're not making any sense,’’ said Alec seriously. Truth be told, he was upset that Magnus thought like that about himself. ‘’You’re the furthest thing from a monster, what are you even saying?’’ asked Alec as he didn’t understand. ‘’I’m not going anywhere, I have all the time in the world. And I’m pretty stubborn, so there’s that too,’’ said Alec and crossed his arms on top of his chest. ‘’It’s okay if you don’t want to look at me, but I’m sitting here and not letting you leave until you believe me that you’re beautiful and everything nice,’’ said Alec.

‘’I just don’t want you to hate me,’’ stammered Magnus and Alec shuddered.

‘’How could I ever possibly hate you?’’ asked Alec and held Magnus’ shoulders, slowly turning him around. ‘’How could I hate you… not when I’m falling in love with you, you stubborn warlock,’’ said Alec softly and Magnus finally gave in, turning around. The glamour was working by then - almost. Everything was hidden,  _ but _ his eyes and Alec’s eyes widened when saw Magnus’ golden eyes looking up at him and he gasped. ‘’Your eyes,’’ stammered Alec and Magnus felt shivers going up his spine. 

‘’No, no-’’

‘’They’re beautiful,’’ said Alec as he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Magnus and the warlock perked up -  _ wait what?! _ ‘’You’re so freaking beautiful, Magnus,’’ said Alec again and Magnus blinked a few times. Huh! That was a first for him! No one had ever called his eyes beautiful right off the bat and- ‘’Is this why you were hiding so much?’’ asked Alec and Magnus nodded. Yes, partially too but the whole truth was still too much for Alec to handle. It was something that Magnus was sure of and Alec sighed. 

‘’Um, yes, kind of, I mean, I-’’ was rambling Magnus. It still felt so surreal that someone would call his eyes beautiful and he just shook his head. ‘’My warlock mark doesn’t scare you off?’’ asked Magnus and Alec blinked, truly confused.

‘’No offence, but why would it?’’ asked Alec and Magnus bit his lip. 

‘’People usually-’’

‘’Fuck people,’’ said Alec and Magnus looked up at him again, tears drying off and that made him crack up. ‘’Seriously if someone had ever given you anything  _ but _ a compliment - screw them!’’ was what Alec decided on. Magnus didn’t know what to say, so he just leaned in and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, pulling him into a tight hug, which Alec was more than happy to return. 

For the first time in  _ decades _ he felt a glint of hope sparking up within him.

Meliorn, who was hidden behind the door quickly flew away and joined the others in the main living room. He was excited - he had some pretty amazing and awesome news for the others. ‘’Guys, you’re never going to believe what happened!’’ said Meliorn happily and was flying around the room. He was far too cheerful for Raphael’s liking and he grumbled.

‘’Tell us already,’’ he shot out and then Meliorn rolled his eyes, landed on the floor and then took in a deep breath.

‘’Alec had just seen Magnus’ warlock mark,’’ reported Meliorn and everyone in the room took in a deep breath. ‘’And he didn’t run away. In fact he called him  _ beautiful,’’ _ said Meliorn and Raphael finally understood his excitement.

‘’Oh my god,’’ said Catarina.

‘’Finally!’’ said Ragnor.

‘’Be damned - I was wrong,’’ said Raphael. ‘’The Shadowhunter pulled through,’’ he said and then looked at Asmodeus, the coffee pot, who was tearing up and Marcel, who wouldn’t shut up about being right all along. Then again, Raphael didn’t mind being wrong this time at all. 

_ Maybe Alexander Lightwood was different after all.  _


	5. Chapter 5

‘’Aw, Alexander, why the serious face?’’ asked Magnus and leaned towards his boyfriend. Alec was spending time over at Magnus’ again, being it just over a week later and it seemed like there was quite a lot on Alec’s mind. And it was - there was this greater demon on the loose than they couldn’t locate no matter how hard he tried. He couldn’t even identify it - truth be told, he had no idea what the hell they’ve been dealing with. Alec didn’t even know if it  _ was _ a demon, but it sure seemed like that and he was just sitting there, completely not present in the moment with Magnus, the warlock pouting and he then scooted closer, placing his hands on top of Alec’s neck, who flinched and finally snapped back to reality.

‘’Huh?’’ asked Alec and Magnus bit down onto his lip.

‘’Alexander, what’s the matter?’’ asked Magnus softly and Alec rubbed the back of his neck. ‘’Come on, spill it, you can tell me everything,’’ he then said and Alec clicked with his tongue, but then smiled as Magnus’ hands never stopped massaging his neck, sliding down his back and he just shrugged. ‘’Is it something work related?’’ asked Magnus, pressing a little kiss onto Alec’s neck, making the hunter shudder and in the end, Alec nodded. But he didn’t want to think about work now that he was over at Magnus’. Usually he was able to leave his work related problems outside the loft, back at the Institute, but they followed him this time and Alec hated feeling like this. Magnus had enough on his plate as it was and he really didn’t want to burden his boyfriend with his own worries.

‘’It’s nothing I want you to worry about,’’ said Alec with a little smile and Magnus then pouted. Now that just didn’t seem fair - Alec was always there to listen to his problems, even though he wouldn’t tell him the full truth, so he wanted to be there for Alec as well and he just stubbornly turned Alec around and the hunter arched an eyebrow when he saw the look on his boyfriend’s face and he just sighed. ‘’Okay, fine,’’ said Alec as he knew that he wasn’t getting out of this until he’d tell Magnus the complete truth. ‘’There’s just been this incident lately,’’ said Alec and Magnus listened.

‘’And?’’

‘’I think there’s a Greater Demon in New York at the moment,’’ said Alec and then clicked with his tongue. ‘’Or  _ something.  _ I don’t really know. I’ve never really seen anything like it. But there’s been attacks on Mundanes and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it, but,’’ said Alec and then ran his fingers through his hair. ‘’I don’t know, I just feel so useless,’’ he said and then bit his lips. ‘’I’m supposed to protect this city, but I don’t even know what we’re dealing with,’’ he said and then sighed again, running his fingers through his hair and then looked at Magnus, who was thinking as well.

‘’You’re not useless, Alexander,’’ said Magnus happily and then gently ruffled his hair, skimming some of the hair away from his forehead and then blinked happily a few times, bringing out a smile on Alec’s face and Magnus then clasped his hands together. ‘’You’re the most badass Shadowhunter that I’ve came across in hundreds of years, so trust me when I say that,’’ said Magnus and Alec slowly nodded, but then shrugged again and then looked down. Truth be told, he felt like he was disappointing everyone at the Institute even though he knew that no one, besides a few exceptions (aka dicks) thought like that about him. No one,  _ but _ Raj and his gang if he was being honest and he then rolled his eyes, rubbing his forehead and he tried to restrain from dropping his smile as he was looking into Magnus’ eyes.

Alec had overheard them talking just a few days prior to this - just as the attacks have started. Usually Alec was able to put a stop at it pretty much immediately, but not this time and rumours started spreading. Rumours about Alec - how he was spending more and more time at  _ Magnus Bane,  _ a mere warlock, while the Institute was not his priority anymore. The rumours were  _ not _ true, because even though Alec spent every day over at Magnus’, he always made sure that he had everything under control and when he wasn’t present there, someone else was working in his name - be it Theo, Izzy or Jace. Sometimes even Maryse came to jump in. But that didn’t stop from stopping the malicious rumours to spread and the epicenter of them all was no other than Raj himself. 

Alec was grumbling, thinking of a way how to get Raj to stop, but there wasn’t really anything that he could do. He couldn’t sentence someone based on  _ rumours,  _ he needed to have proper proof against Raj, but he had absolutely  _ nothing.  _ If anything, the Clave would side with Raj and not with him and he was just quietly keeping his anger inside, but if he’d see Raj the next time, he swore that he’d give him a piece of his mind. Alec only leaned back against the couch and shrugged. ‘’Try telling that to Raj and his gang,’’ said Alec and waved it off. 

‘’Raj? Alexander, who’s-’’

‘’No one,’’ said Alec and then only chuckled. ‘’It’ll all be okay, I swear,’’ said Alec as he was really tempted to steal a kiss from Magnus right there and then, but then didn’t. Their first kiss should be more special and not be spent thinking about Raj and his idiotic gang. ‘’I just need a bit of time to figure it out who’s behind these attacks,’’ said Alec and just sighed. ‘’All will be okay after that,’’ said the hunter and the warlock wasn’t so sure, because he wanted to do more. He didn’t know  _ how  _ he could be of any help to Alexander as he was pretty much captured in his loft. 

‘’Maybe I could help?’’ asked Magnus and Alec looked at him.

‘’It’s okay,’’ said Alec. ‘’You’re helping already. Just being allowed to spend time over at your place like this makes me feel a lot better, so thank you,’’ said Alec, making Magnus smile, but he still wanted to be of help. He actually wanted to do something for Alec, because it seemed that it was just Alec who was there helping. ‘’It’s okay, really,’’ said Alec and then smiled again, Magnus nodding and he dropped his head, thinking, thinking really hard and then an idea popped into his mind.

‘’You said you had no idea what this thing behind these attacks is, right?’’ asked Magnus and Alec nodded.

‘’Yeah, I’ve got literally nothing,’’ said Alec and clasped his hands together. ‘’I’ve gone through every book there is at the Institute, but,’’ said Alec and then sighed. ‘’Nothing - absolutely nothing. It’s like this thing is… I don’t even know,’’ said Alec and then just closed his eyes. ‘’I’ll find out somehow.’’

‘’How about if I said that I have a full  _ library _ , filled with many, many old books, Alexander,’’ said Magnus and Alec perked up. ‘’Some of it is classic literature, but others are about Downworld,’’ said Magnus and then sighed. ‘’Thought I haven't read many of those - I tend to stick with the classics,’’ said Magnus. ‘’But it’s books that not many people have seen, very rare, you see,’’ said Magnus and Alec perked up. Oh, that could actually help. Maybe? He was willing to give it a chance. Also, he wanted to see Magnus’  _ library.  _ Alec loved books, so this would be such an honour.

‘’You have a library?’’ asked Alec curiously and Magnus stood up, signing Alec to come after him.

‘’Right this way, Alexander,’’ said Magnus and Alec quickly followed him into his library. Alec knew that Magnus’ library was pretty impressive, but he truly wasn’t prepared to see  _ that _ once Magnus took him to his library and opened the door. He really wasn’t kidding when he called it a library, because  _ wow.  _ Alec blinked a few times, looking around the place and he took in a deep breath, placing his hand on top of his chest and just… was astonished. There were bookcases upon bookcases, all filled with different kinds of books - most of them looked really old and Alec chuckled. Magnus had a proud smile on his face and he winked. “Speechless, are we, Alexander?” asked Magnus and Alec only nodded, his brain not able to form coherent sentences as he was walking around the room.

“Wow,” commented Alec and then sighed happily. “When you said you had your own  _ library _ you truly weren’t kidding,” said Alec and Magnus nodded. “This-this is all yours?” asked Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod. 

“Yes,” said Magnus and then hummed. “Most of them are mine, some are my father’s,” he explained and then chuckled. “Before being trapped here, I must say that I was a pretty avid reader and collector of books,” said Magnus and smiled. It took him centuries to collect so many books and he truly took great pride in them. “Now that I’m stuck here, they help me to escape this personal prison,” said Magnus and Alec could relate, because books were amazing. Reading helped him escape into world of adventures, full of wonder and great stories. So, yes, he could totally see where Magnus was coming from. 

“Yeah, reading is so much fun,” said Alec as he still couldn’t take his eyes away from all of the magical books in the room. “This is really stunning, I can’t even imagine how long it took you to collect all of these,” he then carried on and Magnus proudly smiled, his big ego being inflated beyond belief and Alec only rolled his eyes, but there was a fond smile remaining on his lips. Magnus was adorable. 

“A few centuries, actually,” said Magnus and waggled his eyebrows. “I have many rare books,” he then carried on and Alec perked up. “Original hand written stories by many famous writers,” said Magnus and Alec’s jaw dropped. 

“Like Shakespeare?” he asked, amazed and Magnus snorted. 

“Try Oscar Wilde,” said Magnus and Alec’s jaw dropped. Oh, now he needed to have a much closer book at Magnus’ library and he was literally buzzing with excitement. Wait - did Magnus know Wilde? How did he get his hands on the works? Alec had so many questions and it was really a pity that he needed to check up on the creature that they’ve been trying to catch. But! After that, maybe he could take a sneak peek into Magnus’ private collection of books and- “Alexander, you’re drooling,” said Magnus as he saw Alec looking through a section of the books, reading the titles and Alec quickly snapped back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m just in awe,” said Alec and Magnus chuckled, took his hand and then turned him around. 

“Should I be jealous over my books?” asked Magnus with a chuckle and Alec cocked his head to the side and then just shook his head. “Relax, I’m just joking,” he then said and gently touched Alec’s cheek, leaning up a little bit and then gave him a little wink. “If you want, you can borrow some of them as well, I don’t mind,” whispered Magnus and Alec shuddered as they were so close that Alec could feel Magnus’ hot breath against his lips. 

“That, um,” said Alec and cleared his throat. “That would be lovely, actually,” said Alec and his eyes fell onto Magnus’, which were again glowing like gold and he shuddered. “I love your eyes,” said Alec, whose voice dropped an octave and Magnus’ eyes widened. His warlock mark was exposed? His heart started beating faster and then he looked down - it was getting harder and harder to control his glamour, his magic was slipping and…  _ time was running by far too quickly.  _ “So beautiful,” said Alec and leaned even closer, Magnus letting his worries slide to the side and he was biting on his lower lip, looking up at him and he swallowed thickly. 

_ Alec was going to kiss him, he was going to be kissed.  _ Magnus’ brain felt fuzzy, letting his eyes fall closed. But as they were both leaning in, Magnus tried to lean against Alexander more, wanting to place his hand onto Alec’s hip - but he missed, his hand going to the bookcase, against which he had Alec pinned against and then on accident he made one book fall onto the floor. In landed with a loud thump and thus ended their  _ moment, _ Magnus cursing and Alec chuckled softly.

“Maybe I should, um, I mean… start researching up on the creature that we’re trying to locate and then, um, I could take a peek at more books?” asked Alec and Magnus nodded. The moment was ended and Magnus sighed, but then smiled again.

“Sounds like a plan,” promised him Magnus and Alec melted again. That day he didn’t return to the Institute anymore, he spent his whole day over at Magnus’, devouring book after book -  _ what a time to be alive! _

* * *

Brian was nervously pacing around the Institute - Alec left to visit Magnus’  _ yesterday _ and he still wasn’t back! It was the next day and he was checking up on the security cameras just in case to see if he had missed anything, but no matter how many times he rolled the recordings, he couldn’t see Alec coming back in and he was grumbling, the jealousy growing and he spent more time by the computers, making Underhill come to his side, because he didn’t like this  _ dick _ sneaking around his computers. As the Head of Security, it was his priority to keep his eyes on them,  _ not the idiot’s. _

“Brian, what are you doing here?” grumbled Underhill and then crossed his arms on top of his chest, narrowing his eyes and he then clicked with his tongue. Ugh, that day was going to suck so much, was what he decided on. Seeing that eye sore the first thing didn’t mean anything good and he just tried to be as nice as possible, but it wasn’t working and he just rolled his eyes without giving a flying fuck, if he was being honest.

“Just trying to see if Alec ever came back,” said Brian and Underhill arched an eyebrow.

“Why?” asked Underhill, really put off by the stalking. It was getting really creepy at this point. Ever since he was humiliated in front of Maryse Lightwood like that, Brian had grown even more… creepy. Underhill didn’t know how to explain it, but he didn’t like it and he just groaned. Maybe he could tag along with Alec again that day to forget this misfortunate encounter and he then hummed. He liked being there… there was a certain  _ teacup _ that was able to make him laugh and giggle. Marcel, the teacup, had the most adorable personality ever and from what Underhill gathered, he was vampire,  _ not _ a teacup in reality and that made him…  _ interested.  _ In more than one way, if he was being honest. 

“I’m just worried about our Head of the Institute,” said Brian and Underhill rolled his eyes.

“Uh huh, more like jealous, but do carry on,” said Underhill.

“I’m just saying,” said Brian and then stood up. “Don’t you think he’s been acting kind of weird?” he asked and Underhill arched an eyebrow. “He’s hardly ever here, he spends more time over at the  _ warlock’s _ than here with us,” said Brian and shook his head. “Instead on focusing on these attacks, he’s rather there with that-”

“Yeah, okay shut the fuck up,” said Theodore once he had it enough and then glared at Brian, who was just sitting there, not knowing what he did wrong - all he did was tell his concerns and opinion! “It’s none of  _ your _ damn business where Alec spends his free time, is that understood?” snapped Underhill because he had had it enough. “And insult Magnus and I swear you’ll end up as a polar bear’s chew toy, like Alec promised you,” said Underhill and then grabbed Brian’s hand and started dragging him away from his precious computers. “And don’t you  _ ever _ touch my stuff again!”

“But!”

“Nope, shut up, stop talking, I don’t wanna hear it,” said Underhill, marching away. 

“I just-”

“Wrangle Island. Character training,” reminded him Underhill and Brian finally stopped talking, Underhill angrily walking away and then sighed, sitting down as he wanted to see if Brian, the idiot, had done any damage to the security system. Luckily all was okay and he huffed - one of these days he was single handedly going to kick the shit out of him, because he was really starting to piss him off. He always did, but lately he’s been- “Dick,” said Underhill and then bit his lip. 

Meanwhile Underhill was trying to cheer himself up, Brian was approached by someone - Raj. While all of that was going down, he stood by and listened to every single detail and he couldn’t help but to chime in, because that seemed like a perfect opportunity to- “Leave me alone,” grumbled Brian at first, but Raj only waved it off. 

“I’m not here to fight,” said Raj and Brian arched an eyebrow. “I’m here as a concerned member of New York’s Institute,” he explained and Brian allowed him to continue. “I couldn't help but to overhear that you’re concerned about our Lightwood?”

“Yeah all he’s doing these days is spending time with  _ Magnus, _ ” said Brian angrily and Raj rubbed his palms together.

“And with that being a very ineffective leader, wouldn’t you agree?” asked Raj and Brian only shrugged. He wasn’t going to badmouth Alec, but maybe he had a point. But it wasn’t Alec’s fault, it was Magnus’. He was making Alec distracted when the Institute needed him the most!

“It’s the warlock’s fault,” said Brian angrily and a victorious grin spread across Raj’s face.

“Of course it is,” said Raj and then took in a deep breath. “Come with me, we have to have a little chat,” he said and Brian perked up - what for? But as long as finally  _ someone _ agreed with him, Brian was prepared to listen, so he followed Raj and Underhill could see them walking away together. He didn’t interfere, but he for sure made a plan to tell Alec - something was going on and he didn’t like it one bit.

* * *

“Ugh, I have nothing,” said Alec as he read through countless of pages and he then just closed the book. His eyes were burning and he needed coffee, looking up at Magnus, who smiled and scooted closer. 

“Forget about this, you’ll figure it out,” said Magnus and winked. “Soon, you’ll see,” said Magnus and Alec nodded - yes, it was probably for the best. Magnus had left Alec in his library for hours as he didn’t want to come in the middle of the work, but he had decided that Alec needed some rest. Maybe some food  _ and _ coffee. Luckily, Magnus was there to give him all the tender love caring that his heart desired. “Take a break and come with me?” he offered and then extended his hand out. Alec happily nodded and allowed Magnus to take him away from the library and lead him to his dining room. 

“Been redecorating again?” asked Alec as Magnus’ place appeared smaller again and the warlock shrugged

“I was bored while you were reading in there,” explained Magnus and then winked. “And also,” he said and dragged him to the table. “I have some food for us - toast, fruits, crepes, waffles, muffins. Whatever you want, you can have it,” said Magnus and winked. Alec felt his stomach growling, wondering where Magnus got all of this food from if he couldn't’ leave his place. But then again, he wasn’t going to ask as he was  _ starving.  _

“Is there coffee?” asked Alec, hopeful.

“But of course,” chirped Magnus happily and clasped his hands together. “How do you take yours?”

“Like my soul. Bitter and black,” deadpanned Alec and Magnus grinned.

“One caffe latte, with extra sugar and whipped cream coming right up then,” said Magnus and Alec felt his cheeks reddening. He was about to protest, but then the coffee smelled so good that he couldn’t say  _ no.  _ “No?” asked Magnus with a pout and Alec only grinned.

“Yes,” he said and took the mug, happily looking over at Magnus, who chuckled and Alec then sighed - he was so totally and utterly in love with Magnus. 


	6. Chapter 6

Magnus was waiting for Alexander to come again and he was in a very good mood. However, he wanted to change up his appearance a little bit - he wanted to  _ surprise _ Alec, so he was happily waltzing around his room after he applied his makeup and was humming himself a melody of a song that his father used to sing to him when he was a child and he then bit his lip, looking himself in the mirror and then he grinned - oh, Alexander was going to melt! His smile grew even more when he heard a little whistle from behind him and he slowly turned around, only to be facing Maia, his favourite wardrobe ever and he grinned, placing his hands on top of his sides and then he arched an eyebrow.

‘’Oh, Magnus, you’re looking extra fly today,’’ said Maia and Magnus gave her a little chuckle. ‘’And what will you wear to complete this look?’’ she then asked and Magnus hummed, tried to get to his clothes, but Maia decided to take control of the situation and started sorting through Magnus’ clothes, making the warlock roll his eyes, but he sat on the edge of his bed and waited as it was pretty clear to him that she wasn’t going to give up - stubborn that one, but it still made him smile. ‘’Hmm, let’s see,’’ she then said and Magnus clicked with his tongue.

‘’Anytime now, Alexander will be here soon,’’ said Magnus and Maia looked at him.

‘’Perfection takes time,’’ she said and Magnus chuckled. ‘’Also doesn’t help that you have like a gazillion clothes in here,’’ she then complained and Magnus only rolled his eyes. He couldn’t help it - he was a fashionista, he needed many clothes, because he dressed to impress, even if it was only for himself. Being trapped in his own loft didn’t mean that he needed to let himself go. That was his own personal mantra that helped him get by. ‘’How about these?’’ asked Maia and pulled out acid washed jeans -  _ where the hell did she get them from?  _ Oh, right, Ragnor once summoned them up as a joke and-  _ ugh.  _ Magnus shuddered and then stuck out his tongue.

‘’I don’t want to make Alexander run away,’’ whined Magnus and Maia took a closer look at them, quickly tossing them away as she agreed with the warlock and then quickly found something that Magnus  _ loved.  _ It was a button up shirt, in a deep burgundy colour and was accompanied by a golden pattern - one of Magnus’ favourite shirts. To go with it, Maia picked out dark blue trousers and Magnus grinned. ‘’Oh, now this is much better,’’ said Magnus and Maia happily had to agree, Magnus quickly summoning the clothes onto him and then looked himself in the mirror. There was still something missing - but what?

‘’Undo the first three buttons,’’ chirped Maia happily and Magnus turned around, his cheeks a bit red, but after doing so, he had to admit it, that he looked  _ amazing.  _ Oh, Alexander was going to be drooling for hours to come. ‘’Oh, poor Shadowhunter won’t know what will hit him,’’ said Maia and then started laughing softly, Magnus grinning and started laughing as well. He did love Alec when he got all flustered - he was beyond adorable and he hummed happily. This was truly going to be so much fun and he couldn’t wait for it. 

* * *

As Alec spent more time at Magnus’, Brian’s jealousy was growing off the charts and that was something that  _ everyone _ at the Institute noticed. Alec tried not to think of it too much, because he really didn’t want to be worried about as someone as petty and idiotic as Brian was, but Underhill kept his eye on him. However, it did worry Alec to some extent when Underhill told him that he had seen Brian and Raj hanging out more and more these days - it seemed that the two were plotting something, but then again, what could the two Shadowhunters do against the whole Institute? Alec didn’t know, however, that it wasn’t just them two. Raj had actually managed to get more people on his side.

The time worked  _ perfectly _ for Raj. The attacks on Mundanes were still happening and the numbers were growing rapidly, which gave Raj the perfect timing to start convincing others that Alec Lightwood was actually a very ineffective leader. And since the attacks hadn’t been stopped as of yet, more and more people were starting to believe it. That combined with the knowledge that Alec was spending most of his free time over at Magnus’ place made them believe that he truly didn’t care about the situation. But that wasn’t the case at all, Alec was going to Magnus’ not only to hang out as they liked to put it, but he was trying to get to the bottom of it. Magnus’ library gave him access to many rare books and he was sure that he’d be able to find there something. There was just so much he could do on his own and a few people actually helping him. 

At the moment, Alec  _ was _ at the Institute as he was having another urgent meeting, so Brian wanted to make the best of this. He was going to take advantage of that and go see this Magnus guy himself and tell him to stay the hell away from Alec - it was his fault that Alec was distracted and couldn’t his job properly. This was the way Brian saw it and with Raj’s brainwashing technique, he was becoming more hostile towards the warlock. Much to his luck, Raj  _ happened _ to know where the warlock lived and just happened to slide that piece of information the last day, so that was where Brian was headed at the moment, pacing as anger was bubbling up inside. He knew that he shouldn’t go against the Accords, but if the warlock wouldn’t listen…  _ he’d make him listen! _

Brian felt his hand twitching, reaching into his pocket as he finally was able to locate the building where Magnus lived - Raj was able to get the address from the letter that the Lightwoods received about that masquerade party. He’d been keeping it as a secret as he knew that the time would come when he could use it and Brian was such a perfect pawn to send there. Stepping into the elevator, Brian felt his heart hammering against his ribcage and there was a grin spreading across his face. After he’d be done with the warlock, he’d finally win. Brian stepped out of the elevator and then headed for the loft, banging onto the door and then hunched down, prepared to fight. He heard the rumours!

Magnus, who was at the time still getting ready, perked up and then his eyes widened. ‘’Alexander is here,’’ said Magnus happily and felt his heart leaping into his throat. ‘’Oh, and he’s early,’’ he then added and Maia looked at him. ‘’How do I look? Good, right?’’ he asked and Maia gave him a little grin.

‘’You look amazing, go get him,’’ she then said and Magnus nodded, hurrying into the living room and then without even thinking twice he just waved his hand, completely oblivious of the fact that the one standing in front of his loft  _ wasn’t  _ Alexander. The fact that it would be someone else didn’t really cross his mind,  _ again, _ as he was too excited, feeling giddy inside and he then took in a deep breath when he listened to the footsteps coming closer. Though he found it kind of weird how the others around him - Ragnor, Raphael, Meliorn, Asmodeus and the others, have gotten quiet all of the sudden and Magnus narrowed his eyes.

‘’Hey, guys, what the-’’ started Magnus with a smile, which quickly faded upon turning around and his eyes widened, because the one standing in his loft  _ wasn’t _ Alexander, but someone else and he was holding a Seraph Blade in his hand. Magnus was taken back and then made a step back quickly, feeling his stomach dropping and he looked around the place. All of the others stopped moving, but he could see that his father was keeping an eye on this Shadowhunter. ‘’You’re not Alexander,’’ said Magnus quickly and then pressed his lips together.

‘’That’s right,’’ said Brian and then aimed the blade at Magnus.

‘’Um, so, who are you?’’ asked Magnus as he didn’t want to cause a scene - the last thing that he wanted to do was to have the Clave go up against him for attacking a Shadowhunter. ‘’Are you a friend of Alexander’s?’’ he then asked and Brian felt his hand twitching. There wasn’t anything scary about this  _ warlock.  _ He seemed to defenseless and weak, just as expected. 

‘’I’m here to warn you to stay the hell away from Alec,’’ said Brian bravely and Magnus’ confusion grew. He didn’t understand and- ‘’You’re making Alec distracted and unable to do his work properly. There’s been Mundane attacks and it’s because of you that he keeps coming here instead of trying and help us,’’ said Brian and Magnus felt his anger bubble up within him - he was  _ helping  _ Alec with that so honestly it pissed him off that his  _ Nobody _ was accusing him of that.

‘’I’m not-’’

‘’But you are,’’ said Brian and then stepped closer to Magnus, who let out a low growl slip past his lips, making the hunter snap up, but he didn’t stop. He wasn’t done  _ yet.  _ ‘’It’s like he’s become obsessed with you,’’ he said and Magnus tensed up, feeling his self control slipping. He already had a hard time controlling himself as it was - it was easy when Alexander was around, but he’d slip up when he was alone. So, to have this stranger barging inside of his place and then insult him like that in his own home made him beyond angry. ‘’It’s like you put him under some kind of a love spell,’’ said Brian then and his jaw dropped. ‘’You did, didn’t you?’’ asked Brian and shoved Magnus back, provoking him even more.

‘’I  _ didn’t- _ ’’ growled Magnus and his eyes started shining, his warlock mark exposed. He was afraid that something else would get- ‘’Alexander and I are in love, that’s all,’’ said Magnus. ‘’I’d never use a  _ love potion _ to-’’

‘’You’re lying,’’ said Brian.

‘’I’m not,’’ said Magnus and then grumbled, feeling his control slipping up even more and he closed his eyes, trying to even out his breathing and control his urges, just like he practiced, but it was  _ hard.  _ ‘’I suggest that you leave,’’ said Magnus and then formed fists with his hands, growling again, but Brian wasn’t catching on at all. He was as thick as a brick wall, so it was really useless even if Magnus tried to warn him and talk some sense into him. It was no use, he was a lost cause… was what Magnus came to realise.

‘’I’m not leaving until I teach you a lesson,  _ warlock, _ ’’ spat Brian and Magnus felt shivers running up his spine - great,  _ racism.  _ Something that he didn’t experience in a long time, but it wasn’t really bothering him. On the other hand, the fact that he even implied that he used a love potion on Alec was what bothered him a lot and he wanted to rip his throat out. Truly. ‘’You’ll stop seeing Alec, or else,’’ he warned him and Magnus felt his fangs slipping out and then he looked at Brian.

‘’Or else?’’ asked Magnus, his voice much deeper and raspier at that moment. ‘’Get out while there’s still time,’’ he said, pressing his lips together, his growls getting louder and his control over his glamour was pretty much _gone. _Just a few more words and he’d go full ballistic on this guy. 

‘’You don’t scare me,’’ said Brian and Magnus then turned around. ‘’Like I expected - you’re weak and pathetic,’’ said the hunter and followed Magnus, who was hunched over, breathing and trying to remain calm. ‘’Come here and face me, or are you really as pathetic as-’’ started Brian, but then was cut off mid sentence when Magnus finally  _ snapped.  _ He didn’t know why, but it was the mixture of all - his weakened control over his urges, this idiot just barging into his home and insulting him like that, the implication that he was using such a disgusting way on Alexander to make him fall in love… all of that made Magnus push over the edge and Brian stumbled back after he heard Magnus literally growl. 

The others were beginning to worry as well, Asmodeus wanting to come there and fight this fucker that dared to insult his boy like that. It was him who broke the silence and he perked up. ‘’You take your words back or I swear I’ll make you suffer,’’ suddenly said a voice and Brian looked around, but there was no one there. ‘’Don’t you dare to talk like that about  _ my _ boy, is that understood?’’ carried on Asmodeus and Brian’s jaw dropped when he saw that it was the coffee pot talking.

‘’Yeah,’’ came another voice. ‘’Get out of here and leave our friend alone,’’ said Ragnor.

‘’Don’t make me claw your eyes out,’’ said the ginger cat and then started hissing, her tail all fluffed up and Brian’s head was spinning - what the hell was going on?! The warlock - he must had done something to him! Cast a spell that made him think that he was losing his mind!

‘’Ragnor, do us a favour and burn his ass off,’’ said Raphael and Brian was shaking, because the clock spoke as well and he then glared at Magnus.

‘’Stop this!’’ said Brian and then came closer to Magnus  _ again, _ whose self control was gone. He grabbed Magnus’ shoulder and yanked him around, showing him his Seraph Blade, but he didn’t really achieve much. As soon as he turned Magnus around, he quickly released him, because  _ his face. By the Angel his face, what the hell was wrong with it?!  _ ‘’You-you-you,’’ stammered Brian, dropping his blade and he was just stumbling back, in a sudden hurry to leave, making Magnus growl again and the warlock grinned - funny how fast tables could be turned,  _ huh _ ?! ‘’It’s all true,’’ said Brian, his face pale. ‘’You’re a monster!’’ he shrieked and Magnus growled again.

His animalistic side took over Magnus and he wanted to hurt Brian, hearing him accuse him of being a monster made him snap  _ again _ and then he shoved Brian back, making him hit the wall with a loud thump and Magnus growled again, showing him his fangs and the other wanted to run away. If it wasn’t for the others, Magnus would truly hurt the other one, Meliorn flying up right in front of his face.

‘’Magnus, stop, you’ll hurt him,’’ said Meliorn and Magnus wanted to say that he  _ deserved _ it, but then Meliorn’s words worked like a cold shower and Magnus finally snapped back, but the damage was done - Brian was running away as fast as he could and Magnus stepped back.

‘’No, no, no, what the hell did I do?’’ he asked and felt his eyes welling up. He attacked a Shadowhunter  _ and _ bared his true face to him. And now this Brian was on his way to the Institute and- ‘’All’s over, I fucked it all up,’’ he said and stumbled back against the wall, glamour up by then and he just slid down the wall and looked down.

* * *

‘’Ugh, what a bunch of dicks,’’ announced Clary and Alec looked at her, surprised. They were all making their way out of the conference room, the meeting was over and it didn’t really go well. The Clave officials were being dicks like always, demanding from Alec to step up his game with his current situation and Alec was so over it. Everyone just assumed that he was sitting on his ass and doing nothing, huh?! Alec grumbled and then just rolled his eyes. But Clary’s sudden choice of words made him surprised - she was the last one he expected to hear cursing. 

‘’Oh, yeah,’’ was quick to agree Alec. ‘’I’d like to see them try,’’ he then carried on and rolled his eyes. ‘’I mean I’m just so over it,’’ he said and ran his fingers through his hair.

‘’Don’t let it get to you, buddy,’’ said Jace and then gave Alec a little smile. ‘’Despite what they said, we all know that you’re doing your best - we all are,’’ said Jace and then Alec gave him a thankful smile. Indeed, he was just pissed that  _ they _ didn’t see it that way. It was so frustrating. 

‘’I truly wanted to strangle all of them with my whip,’’ said Isabelle as she was also fuming with anger, but Clary’s arm around her shoulder helped her calm down and then she just rolled her eyes. ‘’Forget them, Alec, it’s truly not worth getting worried about it,’’ said Izzy and Alec gave her a little smile.

‘’Yeah, don’t worry, I’m okay,’’ said Alec. ‘’Even more so because I’m going to be seeing Magnus soon,’’ he carried on and Jace whistled, Izzy gave him a wink and Alec flushed a little bit and then walked to the main room, looking around the place and then nodded. ‘’Seem everything else is under control,’’ muttered Alec. And just as he was about to decide that it was okay for him to go to Magnus’, someone came barging into the Institute and Alec’s widened when he saw Brian stumbling over his feet, looking like a dishevelled sparrow. He looked deeply traumatised and he just ran up to Alec, shaking his head. ‘’Brian?! The hell happened to you?!’’

‘’M… monster!’’ he shrieked and then shuddered. ‘’He-he isn’t what you think, Magnus, he…. he’s a beast! A monster, his face changed, I-I-’’ was saying Brian and not making much sense. ‘’I-I tried to talk to him and-and he attacked me, I-’’ he said and then just shook his head. ‘’Alec, you have to know that he’s a  _ monster,  _ the rumours are true, I-’’

‘’Magnus?’’ asked Alec and then felt his stomach dropping. ‘’Slow the fuck down and tell me…  _ did you go to Magnus’ place?’’ _ asked Alec and then bit his lip when the idiot nodded. ‘’May I ask you why?’’ he then carried on and then Brian shuddered.

‘’To tell him to stay away from you, he’s making you distracted and he just-’’

‘’You  _ what?’’ _ practically yelled and stepped closer to Brian, shoving him up against the wall, holding him by the collar of his shirt - he’d make his sorry ass pay. Did he do something to Magnus? Because he swore to God that he’d- ‘’Brian - what. Did. You. Do?’’ asked Alec and Brian swallowed thickly.

‘’He attacked me-’’

‘’It was self defence,’’ said Alec, not even allowing Brian to have the time to start spewing his lies. ‘’If you did something to him I will…’’ started Alec and then just pressed his lips together. If it wasn’t for Jace, he’d probably kick his ass right there, but Jace made Alec calm down a little bit and then he took in a deep breath.

‘’N-nothing, I did nothing!’’ insisted Brian.

‘’I find that hard to believe,’’ said Alec and then narrowed his eyes. ‘’Did Raj send you?’’

‘’No!’’

‘’You piece of shit,’’ said Alec and then tried really hard not to make Brian his punching bag. ‘’You went into his home…  _ invaded _ his personal space and now you’re surprised that he threw you out?!’’

‘’He  _ attacked  _ me!’’

‘’Oh, I know Magnus, he’d never hurt even a fly,’’ said Underhill, who saw the whole commotion going on and Izzy was quick to stand up for his brother as well.

‘’Yes, I met him at the party, he’s literally the sweetest person ever,’’ said Isabelle.

‘’You guys don’t understand, he’s a fucking  _ monster, _ ’’ said Brian. ‘’I went there to teach him a lesson-’’ he started and it was when Alec snapped again, gave him a well deserved punch and then finally felt better, pulling away.  _ Teach him a lesson,  _ thought Alec and felt sick. He needed to get over to Magnus’, but not before- 

‘’Theo, Jace, lock him up,’’ said Alec and Brian’s jaw dropped.

‘’You can’t, it’s illegal to-’’

‘’My Institute,  _ my _ rules,’’ said Alec. ‘’Let him cool down in the cell, see how he talks back then,’’ said Alec and it was to Underhill’s great pleasure, because  _ finally _ he’d get to lock the fucker up. Even if it was for a few hours, better than nothing! Alec then turned to Clary. ‘’Can I please ask you for a portal to Brooklyn?’’ he then asked as he was in a hurry to get over to Magnus’ and Clary just nodded.

‘’Of course, Alec,’’ she said and Alec thanked her, hoping that Magnus was okay.

* * *

“Magnus, Alec loves you, nothing bad will happen,” said Asmodeus again, but Magnus just sat there and wasn’t replying, too worried to actually think about anything else than Alec not coming back to his place. He was worried out of his mind and despite all of his friends telling him that everything was going to be okay, Magnus couldn’t help but to expect the worst - it always was like that, sighing sadly and then he started biting his nails, chipping away his perfectly painted nails. 

_ A monster. _

Wasn’t the first time he heard it and it still hurt, even coming from a complete stranger that was also an idiot. Yet it still hurt. Magnus was flooded by memories yet again, people telling him that he was a monster, terrible awful beast and he felt his lower lip shaking, hiding his face into his palms and he just sighed. He tried not to let it get to him, but after decades of hearing it over and over again, he was… Tears were pooling in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away as there was a persistent knocking at the door and he stiffened. Was the fucker back again? Did he bring back more of them that were going to attack him?!

It was Alec that was standing at the front of Magnus’ loft and he started to get worried, because Magnus always opened his door. Alec tried opening them as well, but they were locked and his heart was beating like crazy. “Magnus, open up, it’s me,” said Alec and Magnus perked up.  _ It was Alexander!  _ All he wanted at the time was to embrace Alec, so he hurried over to the door and unlocked it the old fashioned way and then took a step back, Alec feeling relief washing over him as he heard Magnus opening the door, biting his lip and then he stepped inside, Magnus just turning away and he-

“Thank God, Magnus, I was so worried. I came as soon as I heard what happened,” said Alec and Magnus felt his chest tightening - so he knew. He knew what Brian saw. Magnus tensed up and Alec stepped in front of him. “You’re okay, thank the Angels,” said Alec and gently held Magnus’ arm. “You are okay, right?” he then said and gently slid his hand down Magnus’ forearm and then tried to look into his eyes, but Magnus was looking down, trying to conceal the fear in his eyes.

“H-he told you w-what he saw?” muttered Magnus.

“Yeah, that fucker said some awful things,” said Alec and Magnus flinched. “I wanted to beat the shit out of him, ugh. I’m so sorry,” said Alec. “I didn’t think he’d actually come here and…  _ fuck, _ ” said Alec. “Did he hurt you?” asked Alec and Magnus shook his head. “Thank God,” said Alec and hugged Magnus. 

“He tried,” said Magnus and sighed. “He tried attacking me with the blade, but I… attacked back,” said Magnus and then tensed up again. Alec saw red with anger and he then barely restrained from going back and squeezing the life out of him. “I-I didn’t-”

“Good, then it was like I predicted - self defence,” said Alec and then gritted his teeth. “Oh, he’ll spend more than a day in the prison cell, that much I can promise you,” said Alec and Magnus finally looked up.

“Prison?”

“Well, yeah and no… I mean, I put Underhill and Jace to lock him up into one of our cells,” said Alec. “After hearing what he called you and then after learning that he came here to actually attack you… yes. I locked him up, he’s where he belongs,” said Alec happily and Magnus was in awe.  _ Really? _

“Are you for real?”

“Oh, yeah,” said Alec. “I don’t know really what happened in here, but he looked like he had seen a ghost,” snorted Alec, hoping that Magnus would laugh, but his joke fell flat and Alec’s heart dropped. “Hey, I’m joking, I-”

“I’m just afraid you’ll also run away after you learn the truth,” said Magnus and Alec narrowed his eyes. “I-I don’t want you to be afraid of me as well, because,” he said and then his voice broke. He was close to tears again and Alec gently cradled his face, shaking his head. He didn’t know what Magnus was  _ hiding _ , but he also didn’t care. It didn’t matter, he’d never run away or be afraid of Magnus!

“Never,” said Alec.

“You just say that,” said Magnus and averted his gaze.

“Hey,” said Alec firmly and Magnus looked back up. “I’m not going anywhere,” said Alec, meaning it and Magnus looked down. “Never. Ever, Magnus, okay?” said Alec and pressed his lips together. “I love you,” he then finally said. “I love you so much, so it genuinely hurts my feelings that you think I’d ever just run like that,” said Alec and Magnus kept being silent for a few extra moments. 

Magnus held in his breath and then puffed his cheeks. The way Alec said it… Magnus knew that he meant it and he believed him. “I’m sorry,” whispered Magnus and Alec hugged him tightly. “And…  _ aku cinta kamu,  _ Alexander,” whispered Magnus softly against his ear, snuggling close to him and buried his face into the crook of Alec’s neck, taking in a deep breath… was that sandalwood that he smelled on Alec? Huh, funny, usually… Magnus smiled softly and then closed his eyes.

“What does that mean?”

“Indonesian for I love you,” whispered Magnus back and Alec felt like crying at that time, clutching onto Magnus’ shirt and bit his lip. Alec thought about kissing Magnus right there, but then… he realised that they were actually watched by everyone, feeling his cheeks redden and he decided that their first kiss should be in a more private setting. Asmodeus sighed happily after he heard that and he just-

“Magnus, marry this boy, marry him now,” piped up the coffee pot, emotional wreck and it was up to the teacup to make him stop crying. Magnus was only flushing and Alec… he was smiling, hugging Magnus again and didn’t let him go for hours as he carried him over to the couch, where they just cuddled and did absolutely nothing.

Hey, if the Clave thought that he wasn’t working on that case… they why bother after all… right? Besides having Magnus curled up against him was much more pleasant and he was just in complete bliss. And for Magnus? Well, all of the terrible incidents from the day were forgotten as he looked up into Alec’s pretty eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

‘’Everything hurts, I don’t think I can go on like this for much longer,’’ whined Alec, rubbing his aching neck and then he closed his eyes, letting out a groan of discomfort. His eyes felt as if they were on fire and he started rubbing his temples. It was no use, his research was going nowhere even if he had extra help with him that day. He was again over at Magnus’, reading through the books, but he’d need the whole Institute to work with him if they wanted to get through all of the books. He buried his face into his palms and then combed his hair back with his fingers and just leaned against the chair, slowly sliding down, not really caring if he fell or not. He just wanted this to be over.

‘’Boss, we can’t give up now,’’ said Underhill, who tagged along that day. ‘’I think we’re really onto something,’’ he then said and Alec looked at him in complete disbelief. How could he have so much positivity left, when they literally had  _ nothing.  _ ‘’I mean we’ve established that it isn’t a greater demon, so that’s something,’’ said Underhill and Alec just rolled his eyes. ‘’It  _ has _ to be in the book about the super rare creatures - what if it’s some kind of an ancient Downworlder that we haven’t encountered yet?’’ asked Underhill and Alec highly doubted that.

Ancient Downworlders were just a legend. They didn’t exist - at least not anymore. Probably. Alec had so little motivation that he literally didn’t care anymore. It was so frustrating as he couldn’t do anything. Even Brian wasn’t in the prison cell anymore. He didn’t even know who got the authority of the Clave to get him out of there, but it was probably Raj and Alec wanted to strangle someone at the Clave, but he’d get to that. First he needed some rest, because he was constantly on the edge lately and he just wanted a break - a proper vacation. He also wanted to take Magnus with him, but he knew that this wasn’t possible and he just whined - what a shitty situation he was in the moment. 

‘’Does it really matter, Theo?’’ asked Alec and Underhill looked at him. ‘’I mean what’s the point?’’ he asked and the blonde arched his eyebrow and then wanted to say something, but Alec still wasn’t done yet. ‘’I mean here I am, working my ass off and the Clave just continues to claim how I’m doing  _ nothing, _ ’’ said Alec and then just shoved the book away from him and groaned. ‘’Then why should I keep on trying, I mean it all sucks. I suck, the Clave suck, life sucks…  _ everything _ sucks, man,’’ said Alec and Underhill closed his book as well.

‘’I think you need a break from the books,’’ said Underhill and Alec shook his head. ‘’I’m pretty sure that you do. I mean we’ve been at it for three hours now and considering you’ve been locked away in your office the whole day, doing nothing but this,’’ said Underhill and then crossed his arms on top of his chest. ‘’As a Head of Security I must command you to take at least an hour off,’’ said Underhill and Alec clicked with his tongue.

‘’You really think you have such an authority over me as the Head of Security?’’

‘’I think I do, boss,’’ said Underhill. ‘’I mean it’s my responsibility to look after the safety of the Institute, which also means its residents. On top of that, the Institute needs their Head to work properly and last time I checked you were the Head of our Institute, which means I have to watch over you as well. And the way I see it, it would be the  _ safest _ if you took a-’’

‘’Yeah, okay, I get it,’’ said Alec and then started laughing softly. ‘’You talk way too much,’’ he then added and Underhill just shook his head, but then leaned back against the chair and sighed. Maybe he should also take a little break? Maybe it would be for the best, so he decided to keep the book closed and instead he decided to chat with Alec for a little bit, relieve some of the stress and tension that had built up over the span of a few weeks. A lot was going on at the moment, so talking about random stuff helped. 

* * *

‘’Hmm, I’ll go and see what the boys are up to,’’ said Magnus happily. Alec and his friend were in his library, currently still doing their research. As Magnus didn’t want to come in the middle of their Shadowhunter work, he decided to head back to his other friends and leave them to work alone. He then hummed and clasped his hands together. ‘’Maybe I should bring them some snacks, huh?’’ he asked and Asmodeus was quick to agree. They were in the kitchen, the coffee pot hopping over the counter and he then perked up.

‘’I do think that’s a good idea, my son,’’ said Asmodeus happily. ‘’Some cookies to keep your man happy and not starving,’’ he then added and Magnus flushed just a little bit.  _ His man,  _ his father was hilarious, but in the end, he ended up summoning cookies and then placed them onto a tray. ‘’Good boy,’’ said Asmodeus proudly and Magnus only rolled his eyes. He was about to take the cookies to the library, but the tiny teacup crossed paths with him and Magnus looked down, arching his eyebrow. 

‘’Marcel?’’

‘’Magnus, where are you going with those?’’ asked Marcel after he located the treats in Magnus’ hands and the warlock chuckled.

‘’I’m bringing these to Alec and Underhill,’’ said Magnus happily and the teacup started hopping around him, excited as hell and Marcel decided that he needed to be present there as well - if Magnus was going to see Alec, he also wanted to see his Shadowhunter and Magnus only leaned down. ‘’Yes, what’s the matter?’’ asked Magnus and Marcel was glad that he asked - he had an amazing idea. 

‘’I want to come with you too,’’ said Marcel and Magnus picked him, placing him onto the counter. ‘’The boys need some drinks too and luckily for Theo, I’ll bring him some coffee,’’ he announced and Magnus chuckled. ‘’Cookies for Alec, coffee for Theo. I need to keep him energised. Poor thing had been in there for hours and he needs me, Magnus, he  _ needs _ me. He’s been working so hard,’’ he then said and sighed sadly. ‘’My brave Teddy,’’ said Marcel and Magnus only started laughing. 

‘’Yeah, they’ve been in there for quite a while. I hope they managed to find something,’’ said Magnus and Marcel nodded. 

‘’So can I come?’’ asked Marcel, full of hope and Magnus couldn’t really say no, summoning some warm coffee and Marcel giggled when he felt warmth of the coffee hugging him. Magnus then carefully lifted him up and Marcel’s eyes widened. ‘’Be careful, Magnus, do not spill the coffee,’’ said Marcel as he didn’t want the precious drink to spill. It was indeed precious as it was for the blonde hunter that he liked so much and Magnus started laughing.

‘’You know, I’m not shaking, this is all you,’’ commented Magnus, because Marcel couldn’t really contain his excitement and Marcel looked around him. Right! Magnus’ hand was still and if he could flush, he would be red as a tomato by then, but could you really blame him? He was going to be paying a visit to Theodore and he couldn’t wait! He was going to  _ take care of him _ \- coffee wise and Magnus’ laughter had gotten even louder, because Marcel was too precious.

* * *

‘’So, how are things going with Magnus?’’ asked Underhill and Alec smiled.

‘’Oh, amazing,’’ said Alec happily. ‘’A bit over a month, but I already feel like he’s the one, you know?’’ asked Alec and then looked down. ‘’I mean, I know it’s fast, but Magnus is just so  _ amazing, _ ’’ he carried on and made a little pause. ‘’Maybe it sounds silly, but it really feels that we just connected  _ immediately.  _ It’s like our souls clicked and… I don’t know, sounds stupid when I say it out loud - it sounded a lot better in my head,’’ said Alec and shrugged. ‘’But, anyway-’’ he said and was interrupted by Underhill.

‘’It’s not stupid, he’s your soulmate,’’ said Underhill and waggled his eyebrows, Alec flushing a little bit and then he nodded. Indeed, Magnus was his soulmate. At least he felt like that and then bit into his lip. ‘’I really hope I can someday meet someone like that and have what the two of you have,’’ he said and then sighed. 

‘’You will,’’ said Alec and then perked up. ‘’How about you and Marcel?’’ he asked and Underhill gave him dumbfounded look. ‘’Don’t give me that look, you know damn well that Marcel has a thing for you,’’ said Alec and then winked. ‘’And the last time I checked, you were rather fond of him so-’’ started the hunter, but the older one quickly waved it off and Alec gave him an unamused look.

‘’I mean, yes, but,’’ said Underhill and then rolled his eyes. ‘’He’s a teacup, Alec,’’ he said and laughed, shrugging. ‘’I can’t fall in love with an inanimate object,’’ said Theodore and Alec gave him another unamused look and Underhill chuckled. ‘’Now what?’’

‘’Inanimate object - a thing that is not alive,’’ said Alec and started tapping his fingers against the desk. ‘’Last time I checked, Marcel was very much alive,’’ said the stubborn hunter and Underhill only laughed.

‘’You know what I mean,’’ he said in the end and Alec narrowed his eyes.

‘’You do know that Marcel really isn’t a teacup, right?’’ asked Alec and Underhill nodded - yes, he knew that  _ something  _ happened to Magnus and his friends. The alive furniture wasn’t really furniture, but people… other Downworlders. Still, Underhill didn’t know how that really changed things as it seemed that the  _ curse _ (or whatever) still wasn’t broken, so. ‘’And I’ve seen Marcel in his vampire form,’’ said Alec and Underhill perked up as quickly that it made the younger one laugh. ‘’I mean on a picture, an old picture that Magnus has in his album,’’ said Alec and Underhill was only looking at him. ‘’He’s quite easy on the eyes as well, so you should go for it. After we’re done with these attacks, I’m meaning to help Magnus find a cure for his… situation, so you know… you should have some hope,’’ said Alec and Underhill chuckled and then sighed. 

Underhill really didn’t get the opportunity to reply as the door of the library suddenly opened and they both turned around, Alec smiling up to his ears when he saw that it was Magnus and it seemed that he wasn’t alone. Underhill felt his cheeks reddening after his eyes fell upon the little teacup and he just looked down. They were just talking about him, so Underhill was still a bit- ‘’Still researching?’’ asked Magnus and Alec clicked with his tongue and then nodded.

‘’Yes, though we are taking a little break,’’ said Alec happily and then smiled when he saw the tray of cookies  _ and _ Marcel was quite quickly put down onto the desk. ‘’Oh, you brought coffee and a little snack, I love you so much,’’ said Alec happily, but Marcel quickly piped up.

‘’Coffee is for Teddy,’’ announced Marcel and Underhill choked on his breath. Marcel happily looked at  _ his _ Shadowhunter and then tried to get closer to him without spilling the precious coffee, but it was hard. ‘’No, I’ll end up spilling everything before I get to him and-’’ started Marcel, but then felt a gentle hand picking him up and he happily sighed when he found himself in Underhill’s warp palm.  _ Ah, he loved his hands.  _ ‘’Teddy, hi,’’ said Marcel happily and Underhill placed him down. ‘’I wanted to bring you something that will help you and-’’

‘’Thank you, that’s actually very sweet of you,’’ said Underhill. Upon the compliment, the teacup started shaking and Magnus started laughing. 

‘’You’re spilling the coffee, Marcel, calm down,’’ said the warlock and Marcel tried to stop.

‘’You’re adorable,’’ whispered Underhill and Marcel almost melted right there and then. Alec chuckled and then looked at Magnus, feeling that maybe the two of them should get out of there. It looked like maybe the other two needed a bit of privacy, so… 

‘’Darling, how about you join me in the living room?’’ asked Magnus and Marcel perked up. ‘’There’s a book that I’ve found and maybe it would be of help with your research,’’ said Magnus, winking on purpose and Alec was quick to agree. Underhill rolled his eyes - they weren’t even subtle about it! ‘’You two enjoy,’’ said Magnus, winking as Alec followed him outside and Underhill chuckled, but didn’t really complain. How could he when Marcel was the most precious thing he had ever encountered? 

* * *

“Ah,” said Raphael and looked around the room. “Seems like Alec really might be the one, huh?” he asked, trying to make some conversation with Ragnor, who seemed oddly quiet that day. Raphael waited a little bit and then annoyance started kicking in because it seemed that Ragnor decided to ignore him for some apparent reason - but Raphael didn’t do anything wrong! The clock rolled his eyes and then looked at his friend, candelabra, who was just standing there on the table. “Ragnor?” he asked and slowly hopped closer to him. “Stop ignoring me when I’m trying to make a conversation,” he then said, because he frankly found it very rude and went closer to smack his friend across what would be his arm, but his eyes then widened, because Ragnor wasn’t reacting at all.

If he was being honest, that didn’t really  _ look _ like this friend. It seemed like a regular candelabra and not living one, not like Ragnor. But it had to be him and Raphael felt his head spinning, looking around the room and he hopped over to the edge of it. He knew that the time was running out, he could  _ feel _ it. It was getting harder to move, he was beginning to be more and more stiff, but-  _ There’s still three weeks left before the time would run out!  _ And with Magnus nowhere being seen, Raphael decided to go and ask Catarina for help.

“Cat!” shrieked Raphael loudly and then hopped onto the other side of the table and sighed - yes, it was definitely much harder to move now and he sighed, tired as hell, but the ginger cat looked up and… and she  _ meowed.  _ “Catarina, please you have to do something, Ragnor’s not responding at all,” said Raphael, pointing to the candelabra, which was still just standing there in the middle of the table. “Cat,  _ please! _ ” he said, but the cat only meowed again and Raphael’s jaw dropped, stumbling back a little bit. He ended up falling over, rolling to Ragnor’s side and thus knocked him onto the floor, making him fall onto the floor. It was only then that Ragnor finally snapped out of it and let out a very annoyed  _ ouch.  _

“Raphi, what the fuck?” whined Ragnor as he was slowly lifting himself off the floor and rolled onto the side. “That actually hurt,” he continued his little rant and Raphael quickly descended onto the floor as well, jumping onto the chair first and then took a leap of faith and just jumped dow. 

“No, I didn’t do it on purpose, I tripped and… that’s beside the point,” said Raphael and Catarina jumped onto the floor and hurried over to the two of them. “I was telling you something, but you… didn’t respond,” muttered Raphael and Ragnor rolled his eyes. To him, Raphael was just trying to make an excuse for acting like a complete ass - or so he thought, but Catarina shook her head and cleared her throat, her gift of speech finally returning.

“He’s not lying, Ragnor,” said Catarina and Ragnor narrowed his eyes. “I  _ couldn’t _ speak just a few moments ago, I could only meow and… it was so strange,” he said and Ragnor stiffened. “I-it’s already happening, the time is running out and soon we all-”

“Cat,  _ don’t, _ ” said Ragnor despite his own heart squeezing at the thought of permanently turning into a piece of- “Magnus and Alec got this, Alec will save us all, you’ll see,” said Ragnor and then bit into his tongue. Did he truly believe it? Well, he tried to, he really did. But he needed to cling onto the tiniest thread of hope if he didn’t want to completely lose his mind. 

“God, I hope you’re right,” muttered Catarina and then sat down, lowering her cat ears and then just sighed. 

* * *

“Mmm, that feels so nice,” exhaled Alec deeply and then smiled when he felt Magnus’ strong hands sliding down his neck, biting his lip as he didn’t want to be  _ too _ loud, but he also couldn’t help it. Magnus was definitely hitting the spot and he buried his fingers into his legs, eyes closed and he could feel Magnus’ grin growing on his face. “You’re very talented with your hands, aren’t you?” asked Alec and Magnus leaned closer to him, placing his chin on top of Alec’s shoulder and then waggled his eyebrows.

“So I’ve been told,” muttered Magnus into Alec’s ear. “Feeling better, Love?” asked Magnus, slowly withdrawing his hands, though he wouldn’t mind to keep his hands on Alec for a bit longer. He bit his lip and Alec slowly turned around to him, scooting closer and then took his hand. “What’s on your mind, Angel?” asked Magnus and didn’t get a verbal reply right away. Instead, Alec placed his head down onto Magnus’ shoulder and the warlock chuckled. “Feeling clingy, are we?”

“Yeah,” whispered Alec. The two of them were in Magnus’ ‘’garden’’. Alec loved it, despite it not being real. Alec looked towards the door and could see a coffee pot spying on them and he then shook his head. “Your dad is spying on us again,” said Alec and Magnus clicked with his tongue, rolling his eyes.

“I really can’t have any privacy in here, can I?” grumbled Magnus and Alec grinned, but shrugged it off, reaching up with his hand and gently touched Magnus’ cheek. “Alexander?”

“Mmm?” hummed Alec and bit his lip, but then slowly moved and settled for using Magnus’ thighs as a pillow, laying down as he really felt freaking exhausted. Magnus smiled and was absently running his fingers through Alec’s hair, gently tugging on it and Alec let out a happy sigh. “Come here,” whispered Alec, reaching up with his hand and held Magnus’ face. Magnus grinned and hunched over, leaning down, his eyes fluttering shut, while Alec’s were focused on Magnus’ lips.

_ Finally.  _

Licking across his lower lip, Alec was about to lean up and capture Magnus’ lips in between his own when his phone started to ring all of the sudden and Magnus’ eyes widened, Alec freezing up. Magnus opened his eyes and narrowed them when he saw that Alec was searching for his phone. “Don’t you dare,” said Magnus and pressed his lips together.

“But, it could be important,” whispered Alec back.

“So is  _ this. _ ”

“The moment is already kind of ruined, isn’t it?”

“Alexander if you-”

“I’m really sorry,” muttered Alec and laid back down, Magnus lifting up and he just started grumbling under his breath. Oh, it better be important, feeling his anger growing when he learned it was Jace. Alec picked up the phone call and his face darkened when he heard that it was Jace. He usually picked just the most intrusive moments when he called, so he really wasn’t surprised to see that it was Jace. He should have muted the phone call, but the damage was already done and Magnus was just pouting cutely above Alec and the hunter sighed and took in a deep breath. “Jace, you better have a good excuse for calling,” said Alec and bit his lip, giving Magnus an apologetic look.

“ _ Hey, man, I’m sorry if I’m interrupting you and Magnus, but we have something, _ ” said Jace and Alec’s eyes widened a little bit. “ _ There’s been another attack at the restaurant and their security camera managed to pick up something, _ ” said Jace and Alec’s jaw dropped. Could it be - finally a break in the case? “ _ Luke forwarded me a photo just now and, Alec, you have to see this. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before, _ ” stammered Jace and Alec was now on the edge.

“What is it?” asked Alec and Magnus arched an eyebrow when he saw that maybe Jace really had a good reason to be interrupting their first kiss. 

“ _ I have no idea, but I’ll forward you a photo right away, _ ” said Jace and Alec tightened the hold around his phone, his heart beating much faster. “ _ You still with Magnus? _ ”

“Yeah.”

“ _ Good, maybe you can look into the books again, _ ” said Jace. “ _ The picture isn’t very clear, but maybe you can make out what it is, _ ” said Jace and Alec bit his lip.

“We’ll try.”

“ _ Roger that. I’m sending you the picture now, call me if you get anything, okay? _ ”

“Of course. And same goes for you, give us a call if you find out anything,” said Alec, Jace promising him to do so and then the phone call was ended. Alec then quickly opened up the picture and his eyes widened, zooming in on the photo and he then wrinkled his nose, because it looked like absolutely horrifying. Like Jace said, it was a blurry photo, but it was still able to show enough and Alec shuddered. “Ew, that’s just disgusting,” said Alec, sitting up and Magnus scooted closer.

“What is?” asked the warlock. 

“They finally managed to capture the attacker on security camera,” said Alec and then pressed his lips together again. Magnus’ eyes were wide as well and he was very interested to see who was behind those attacks. “I mean it’s just the… it looks like a zombie,” said Alec and then stuck out his tongue. “I don’t know any other way to describe it.”

“A Forsaken?” asked Magnus and Alec tapped his lips with his finger and shook his head.

“Hmm, I don’t think so,” said Alec, zooming in on the photo in again and then sighed. “The pattern of attacks doesn’t add up. Also this thing seems intelligent, while the Forsaken are pretty much mindless servants, who obey their master… but this one seems to attack for pleasure. Plus this thing uses magic to attack, while the Forsaken don’t have it,” said Alec and sighed. “The face… I mean it looks like it could be a woman?” asked Alec and groaned as he couldn’t really tell. “Yeah, maybe… I can’t really tell,” said Alec and looked up at Magnus. 

_ Uses magic _

_ Face looks like that of a Forsaken _

_ Attacks for pleasure _

_ A woman _

Magnus’ head was spinning and then he shook his head - no it couldn't be it. It just  _ couldn’t.  _ It was probably just a coincidence, because what were the odds, right? His whole being was shaking at the moment and he took in a deep breath and then looked at Alec. “Alexander, c-can you show me the photo?” he asked then painfully slowly and Alec shrugged, turning his phone to Magnus, who upon seeing the photo started spiraling out of control. 

Now it all added up, he should have noticed it before from the pattern of the attacks, but he didn’t want to think of  _ that _ possibility and he felt like throwing up. His eyes were suddenly glowing gold and Alec’s eyes widened a little bit, because it looked like Magnus was again crumbling apart and Alec didn’t even know what happened, gently placing his hand on top of Magnus’ shoulder. “H-hey, what’s-” asked Alec and then Magnus  _ growled.  _ It wasn’t a human growl, it was pretty much animalistic and Alec flinched, but Magnus didn’t notice. He didn’t notice Alec’s flinch, neither did he know that his glamour was about to fall off at any second now. No… all he could see was  _ her.  _ Her, the one who ruined his life, the one who cursed him and made him life and living hell. The one who trapped him in his own home, despite him never doing anything bad to her. 

“Camille,” growled Magnus and Alec narrowed his eyes. Camille? Who was Camille?

“Magnus, who’s Cami-” asked Alec, but his voice trailed off because Magnus growled again and he hunched his back. Just seeing a blurry picture of her made Magnus lose it completely and he clenched his teeth. Upon clenching his teeth, he bared his  _ fangs _ as he didn’t have a complete control over his glamour and Alec let out a startled gasp. Magnus, himself, wasn’t aware of that fact, but Alec sure was and he was as white as a sheet. 

_ Fangs, he has fangs…  _ he remembered Brian telling him. 

Alec shuddered and didn’t know how to react, blinking a few times and he looked towards the door, but then he looked at Magnus again, who was… spiraling out of control. Even more so, his growls growing louder… growls and whines of pain. Heartbreak. Sadness and sorrow. Betrayal. And despite his initial surprise, Alec took in a deep breath and- at the time Asmodeus peeked back inside to see what the hell was all that growling about and his eyes widened when he saw that his son’s glamour was barely hanging up, looking at Alec, who looked as white as a sheet and Asmodeus-

“No, no, no-” he started and wanted to run in there and protect his son, but then… Alec took Magnus’ hand into his, giving it a firm, tight squeeze and Asmodeus was truly astonished, because-

As freaked out as Alec was, he could tell that Magnus needed him. Something triggered him after he saw that photo and he just took Magnus’ hand into his own, placed his hand on top of Magnus’ back and then gently rubbed it, drawing little, soothing circles against his shirt and Magnus finally snapped out of it. Only then he realised that his glamour was hanging on by a thread and he looked at Alec. Did he see something? Even if he did…  _ he didn’t run.  _

“Shh, Magnus, I need you to calm down,” whispered Alec into Magnus’ ear, the warlock letting his eyes close and he leaned up against Alec. “I’ve got you, hey, it’s okay,” whispered Alec and then wrapped his arms around him. “That’s it,” he said as Magnus slowly relaxed in his arms and Magnus shuddered after he pulled back a little bit. “Breathe, that’s it… nice and slow. Everything will be okay, yes?” asked Alec and Magnus pressed his lips together

_ Camille was back in town, why was she back in town?  _ Magnus felt his blood boil with anger. She was there to visit once the time would run out? Probably. Knowing her, she’d totally do this. “I-I am so sorry, I-”

“No need to apologise,” said Alec. “I should be the one apologising… I didn’t know that seeing that thing would-”

“That…  _ thing _ is Camille,” whispered Magnus, his voice shaking.

“Wait you know her?!”

“Oh, yeah,” said Magnus and then shuddered. “I’ll tell you more I just… fuck, I need a drink,” he said and quickly summoned himself one of his favourite cocktails and then gulped it all down in a few gulps and then took in a deep breath. 

“You don’t have to if it’s too-”

“Oh, I want to, believe me I do,” said Magnus, his voice shaking with anger. “Maybe now she can be captured for good,” he mumbled under his breath and then waited a little bit before he gathered enough courage to let Alexander know all about Camille - as much as he could anyway. The fact that she was the one who put him under the curse and what kind of a curse it was, couldn’t be said. If he wanted the curse to be broken, Alec couldn’t know any details, but… oh, he was sure that he didn’t miss out anything else about the  _ witch.  _ And he used that term loosely as he knew one that fit her much better and it just happened to rhyme with witch. 


	8. Chapter 8

‘’Okay, Alec, I don’t mean to sound like a dick and pass any judgement over your boyfriend, but he dated  _ this _ ?’’ asked Jace in complete disbelief and sheer disgust as he pointed to the photo of Camille that they had and he then shuddered. ‘’I mean whatever floats his boat, no shame whatsoever,’’ said Jace and then again looked at the photo and felt his stomach turning and he quickly had to turn the photo away. ‘’But really?  _ This _ ?’’ asked Jace as he couldn’t believe. Neither could Alec really - that Jace was thinking about such things in this time when they had to make a plan how they would stop her. But Jace was Jace and Alec knew that he should have expected it. Luckily, Clary was there by his side to smack his shoulder and he gave her an offended look.

‘’Jace, now it isn’t the time,’’ she hissed and Alec gave her a thankful look and Jace went back to whining and feeling sorry for himself. All of them were against him, was what he decided on, but then he saw that he was maybe acting a tad childish. Still, he couldn’t believe that.  _ No, wait, it didn’t matter!  _ ‘’Ugh, Alec, I’m so sorry,’’ she then said and Alec looked at the redhead and then just waved it off.

‘’It’s okay, I’ve known him for over a decade, so I’m used to it,’’ said Alec and Jace glared at him. ‘’But to get serious,’’ he then said and others stepped a bit closer to the table. Alec and the others were in the middle of an emergency meeting as he needed to let the others know that there had been a break in the case. Much to his displease, Raj was there as well. Brian, on the other had, was nowhere to be seen. He wasn’t in the cell anymore, but Alec didn’t want him anywhere near him and if he was about to come Magnus close again, well… he better lay down and play dead, because Alec was going to-

‘’Yeah, tell us, Alec,’’ said Raj and Alec already felt his anger growing. ‘’Tell us - how did you make such an amazing break in the case all of the sudden?’’ asked the idiot and Alec only gritted his teeth and tried to tune him out the best way that he could. He tried getting Raj not to come to the meeting as well, but… in the end, there was just that much that he could do as the Head of the Institute. He didn’t want to become suspicious in the eyes of the Clave even more than he already was.

‘’I thought you’d be happy,’’ shot back Alec. ‘’That I finally prove myself how capable I am as the Head of the Institute,’’ said Alec and then rolled his eyes. ‘’Also,  _ this _ is her real face,’’ said Alec and then pulled out a photo of Camille and Jace quickly closed his eyes, peeking and he then felt relieved -  _ oh, finally, it looked like a normal person.  _ ‘’Hmm, well, this would be her real face,’’ said Alec, pointing to the photo that they got from the security cameras. ‘’And this is her using glamour,’’ he said and placed his hands on top of his sides and just chewed on his lips. ‘’I don’t really get it myself, but she’s smart. It makes it impossible for people to identify her like this,’’ he said and then clicked with his tongue. ‘’No more, though, because we finally got her - well, at least her identity.’’

‘’Oh, much better,’’ said Jace relieved and Clary smacked his shoulder  _ again. _

‘’Jace!’’

‘’Silence,’’ said Alec and then both of them stopped talking, Isabelle snickering at the side, but then got serious again, because Alec looked at her as well. Alec was in his Shadowhunter mode, serious and all, so they all knew better than to test him with any kind of disobedience - well, all of them  _ but _ Raj, of course and Alec could already feel that he was preparing himself to say something stupid again. Hardly ever something intelligent left his mouth, so he just ignored him and then clasped his hands together. ‘’All we need now is a plan,’’ said Alec and then sighed. Easier said than done, though.

‘’Alec, what even  _ is _ she, thought?’’ asked Isabelle and wrinkled her nose after she took a closer look at the photo and Alec pressed his lips together and then tried his best to remember what Magnus called her. It was something ancient, he couldn’t remember the word. It started with an H and… Alec rubbed his forehead and then just decided to wing it, because he really couldn’t remember.

‘’From what Magnus told me… I mean, I’ll tell you as much as I can remember, because he told me a lot,’’ said Alec and then sighed. ‘’It’s some kind of an ancient witch or something like that. You remember all of those legends about ancient Downworlders?’’ asked Alec and Isabelle nodded. ‘’Supposedly, she’s one of them,’’ said Alec and then crossed his arms on top of his chest. ‘’An ancient witch, so something like that.’’

‘’I thought they were just stories,’’ said izzy and Alec nodded.

‘’Alec, what are ancient Downworlders?’’ asked Clary as she wasn’t so much in the loop and luckily for Alec, Jace was there to give her a crash course on what those were, Alec going back to thinking and he then just sighed. He had so many questions though - why was she there now? Also, what was her goal? Did she come to New York with some kind of a purpose? Magnus said that beings like her usually hid from people and would never show their true faces to Mundanes. Also, not many of them were left to roam the world, so Alec was even more shocked to encounter one of them like that. Just what were the chances, huh?

‘’And the more people that she attacks, the stronger she gets,’’ said Alec. That was what worried him the most. She had attacked already more than ten Mundanes and it seemed that she still wasn’t done. ‘’That means that we have to stop her immediately,’’ he said and Raj rolled his eyes. Ugh, why the fuck did the Clave gave him the authority for his presence at these meetings? It was just making all of them annoyed and-

‘’Don’t you think it’s a little bit weird that this mysterious witch?’’ asked Raj with the most annoying tone of voice he could possibly muster and Alec could already feel himself getting dumber by each passing second. ‘’And that your warlock just happens to know her?’’ he then carried on and Alec stiffened as soon as he mentioned Magnus. He didn’t like where he was going with that. ‘’I mean call me crazy, but I don’t think this is just a coincidence,’’ he said and Isabelle hissed.

‘’You’re crazy,’’ she said happily, but still wished she could whip her whip out and strangle the poor bastard. But then again, he so wasn’t worth it and she just rolled over to Alec, who was trying his best not to cause a scene, because the Clave was already pretty pissed with him for locking Brian up just like that, so he just took in a deep breath and then clasped his hands together. 

‘’Yeah, whatever helps you to get by easier,’’ said Raj and then looked at Alec. ‘’Think about it, the attacks started happening just shortly after this  _ masquerade _ party took place,’’ said Raj and Alec so wasn’t paying attention to him. All he heard was  _ blablabla, I’m an insecure idiot, blablabla.  _ ‘’And he just happened to be interested in Alec, who also happens to be the Head of our Institute,’’ said Raj. ‘’And if you ask me, it would work out perfectly. I mean Alec is already distracted as it is, never around the Institute these days, so it makes the Institute more vulnerable for the attacks,’’ said Raj and Alec grumbled. He couldn’t be serious could he? But apparently he was and Alec was just- ‘’If that wasn’t bad enough, the Head of the Security is also spending time over there.’’

‘’Raj-’’

‘’So, if you ask me, I think Magnus and Camille are both together behind these attacks,’’ said Raj and thus stated the most idiotic thing that Alec had and probably would ever hear in his entire life. He wanted to laugh, but it wouldn’t be appropriate given the circumstances and he looked at Jace and Isabelle, who tried to give their best not to jump down his throat, but it was hard. Alec pressed his lips together and then stepped closer to Raj, wanting to put an end to him and his crazy conspiracies once and for all.

‘’Stop talking, Raj, you’re lowering the IQ of the whole Institute,’’ said Alec and the look that Raj gave him did not disappoint at all, making Clary snicker behind Jace. ‘’I mean do you even hear yourself? Did you pull this theory out of your ass? Seriously,’’ said Alec and then crossed his arms again. ‘’Look, I know that you and your little group,’’ said Alec as he noticed that there were a couple of Shadowhunters that migrated over to Raj - it wasn’t only Brian anymore. ‘’Have your own little stories and theories. And you know what, I couldn’t give a flying fuck about you or the other idiots,’’ he said. ‘’But if you ever take it to such extremes as Brian did, I swear to God that I’ll make your life a living hell,’’ he said and then shoved him away. 

‘’Just so you wait, Lightwood,’’ grumbled Raj as he was completely humiliated. In that room, no one was on his side. Not really and his anger skyrocketed because of that. ‘’You may be the one in charge around here now, but not for long - we’ll see who’ll have the last laugh,’’ he said under his breath after Alec walked away and didn’t really pay attention to him anymore as he had more productive things to do - as it was  _ actually  _ stopping the attacks on Mundanes. And Raj just stood there and licked his own wounds, for he was a wounded animal. Embarrassment was something that he didn’t handle well.

Raj decided that he needed to step up the game - they needed to take action before it was too late. Before this _beast_ would completely take away Alec’s sanity. Raj was slowly starting to believe Brian… maybe Magnus put Alec under some kind of a spell and it would be up to them to stop Magnus, the monster that was attacking the city and make Alec finally see that Magnus wasn’t who he pretended to be. He was going to unmask the beast even if that was the last thing he’d ever do! 

* * *

Magnus didn’t tell the others what he found out from Alexander - that Camille was back in town. They already had enough on their plates, so he didn’t want to upset them even more and he was biting his lip nervously. Even though he didn’t tell them anything, they could still sense that something was wrong as they did live with him for almost four decades now, so they knew Magnus - inside and out. They could all read him like an open book, but they also knew when to back off and not bother him when he was on the edge, just like he was now, nervously pacing around and was just… a lot was going on through his mind that he didn’t even know how to begin to deal with it.

Camille was back… that was something that scared him. Luckily, he didn’t show her face there as of yet - much for her luck if he was being honest, because Magnus didn’t know what he’d do if he would be face to face with her and he just groaned. He hoped that Alec would be able to capture her, not only because of her, but because of the attacks that she was behind. It boggled his mind to why Camille was risking being caught like this. She was evil, yes, but she was also smart, so… it made absolutely no sense. She wouldn’t let herself be shown to the cameras if she didn’t have a reason for that… Magnus knew her well enough to know that she was plotting something again and he gulped.

The curse that she put him under took a lot of strength - she probably spent years to regain her power back. She was very strong, but the curse worked like a one hit wonder, then needed time to recharge her batteries. But Mundane energy helped her a lot and given that she had attacked ten people already told Magnus that she was pretty strong enough so… ugh. It was just a mess. On top of all of that… it was just two more weeks and the time was going to run out, but still wasn’t ready to take the final step - to show Alexander his real face. It was just too much for him and he bowed his head -  _ now what? _

Luckily, Magnus didn’t have to left with his worries for too much longer as there was quickly a knock at the door and he quickly perked up. He heard Meliorn yelling to him that it was Alec as he looked through the peephole and Magnus quickly unlocked the door with a quick snap of his fingers, but didn’t step out of his bedroom quite yet as he was just… ugh. At the moment he was only sitting on his bed and there was an album of old photos next to him. It was a special album that nobody really knew that he owned - he kept it hidden well away from others. They were photos of him and Camille, from the times that Magnus thought they were…  _ happy.  _ He rolled his eyes and then just glared at them. Magnus didn’t even know why he kept them, it would be better if he just tossed them away. Or better yet  _ burn _ them. Rip them apart, just like Camille ripped his heart out and-

“Magnus, stop it,” he said to himself and then just tried to put the photos away before he’d get out to greet Alec. What he didn’t know, however, was that Alec was already on his way to his room. As Alec couldn’t locate Magnus anywhere around, he asked Ragnor, who happily announced that Magnus was in his room and since Alec was very excited to see his boyfriend, he didn’t really think of it too much and he quickly went over to Magnus’ room. Now that he thought about it - he never actually saw how Magnus’ room looked like. The two of them usually spent their time somewhere around the loft, but never in his room for some reason. Well, maybe Magnus was just an old fashioned guy and didn’t think that would be appropriate for him to show his bedroom to Alexander. Either way, Alec didn’t even think of it too much and before Magnus would be able to go out, Alec opened up the door and found Magnus on the bed with his photos.

“Magnus!” said Alec happily. Despite everything that was going on, he tried to keep his mood up, especially around Magnus. He still felt a bit…  _ odd _ that he was chasing Magnus’ ex, but, well… he wasn’t jealous in any shape or form, it was just weird to know that Magnus had a past with that…  _ monster.  _ Alec shook his head and almost laughed that people called Magnus a monster, when there were far worse beings outside. Although he saw  _ something _ the last week - he didn’t really know what he saw, but he knew that Magnus was hiding something that he was too scared to tell him.  _ I’m afraid that you’d run if you’d know the truth,  _ were the words Magnus said to him and it was all starting to come together. He wished that Magnus would just come out and say it. 

“Alexander,” said Magnus and stood up, looking surprised to see Alec in his bedroom. The truth was - no many people had access to his room. They could access every other room of his loft, but that room was off limits for most of them and seeing Alexander in there made Magnus- 

In the room stood a little rose behind a glass, placed on a tall desk by the window. It was that exact rose that he gave to Camille on  _ that  _ day and Magnus’ head started spinning when Alec’s eyes fell upon the rose. The day that he got turned into a monster, it was his and Camille’s anniversary, so he had a little gathering with all of their friends, gifting her the rose, which was beyond beautiful, he got it from the Seelie Queen herself. But it wasn’t enough for Camille, of course not. She wanted something  _ more _ , something more expensive and Magnus, well… he had it enough. 

They’ve been together for decades prior to that and it all lead up to that day, when he had it enough. He knew about many lies that she had told him - Magnus had always been there for her, but she was rarely there for him when he needed someone. He chose to ignore that because his love for her was too strong, but… seeing be her so ungrateful made him snap. He threatened that he’d break it off with her for good then and Camille didn’t take it well, so… he cursed him and all of his friends, the rose a painful reminder of the time that was running out. Each fallen petal told him that the time had almost ran out and Magnus puffed his cheeks. A few more petals hanged on, but… the rose looked sad and lifeless.

“Oh, Magnus, your flower is wilting away,” said Alec and Magnus’ eyes widened. Alec couldn’t really help himself, but to notice it as it was put right on spot. It really caught a person’s attention and since Alec loved flowers he couldn’t help himself but to walk right up to it and he then just sighed. It was such a waste that such a pretty flower was dying. “Maybe you need to change its water?” suggested the hunter and Magnus’ heart was beating very fast when he saw that Alec was about to touch the glass and he froze up for a split second. Then a loud growl and Alec quickly moved away, withdrawing his hand and he flinched. Did he do something wrong? Because- 

“Don’t touch it,” said Magnus loudly, almost yelling at Alec and the hunter’s eyes widened, because he had never heard Magnus raising his voice at him. He quickly stumbled back and placed his hands behind his back. “Go away,” carried Magnus on, hating himself for speaking to Alexander like this, but he couldn’t stop. He tried, but he couldn’t as his primal side was getting stronger and at this point he was going to bare his real face in front of Alec, which he-

Alec quickly moved even further away. “Magnus, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-” stammered Alec, biting into his lip and Magnus felt his stomach dropping.  _ He yelled at Alexander. He yelled at the person that loved him. He yelled at the last person he wanted to ever snap at.  _ He didn’t mean it, not really. But everything going on, with Camille being back and his emotions being so raw and open… it was just too much. He didn’t let people touch the rose in the fear that it might make the petals fall even faster even though he logically knew that it wouldn’t be the case, but he… Magnus wanted to cry, while Alec was just silently standing there, not knowing what he did wrong. He didn’t-

“No, Alexnader-”

“Maybe I should go?” asked Alec as he didn’t want to hurt Magnus’ feelings even more. It was clear that Magnus maybe wanted to be left alone and even though Alec wanted to spend some time with Magnus, he also didn’t want to-

Magnus quickly calmed down completely, Alec’s words working like a cold shower and doom crept into his heart. He pressed his lips together and moved closer to Alec. Luckily, he didn’t move away, so that was a good sign, gulpin and he was shaking badly. “No, please stay,” said Magnus with a small voice. “I didn’t mean to yell, I didn’t… I’m going to fuck up everything,” muttered Magnus and Alec shook his head. He didn’t really know what Magnus was talking about, but-

“You’re not-”

“I shouldn’t have yelled,” muttered Magnus, his eyes hidden from Alec’s.

“And I really shouldn’t have wandered into your bedroom just like that,” said Alec. “So I guess that makes us even,” said Alec, wanting to make a joke out of it, but it fell flat and Magnus only shook his head. No, it didn’t.

“No,” he said. “You’ve been nothing but good to me and I...”

“Well, let’s forget that, huh?” asked Alec and took Magnus’ hand into his own, Magnus looking up at him. “I’m sorry, I won’t ask what’s up with that rose, but,” said Alec and Magnus visibly tensed up. “Let’s leave it for another day, okay?” asked Alec and Magnus gave him a little nod. “How about we come go into the living room and do something else?” asked Alec and Magnus smiled a little bit, but eventually nodded and then sighed, allowing Alexander to take him away from his room and he looked around. 

“Like what?” asked Magnus.

Alec, who was desperately trying to lighten up the mood looked over to the coffee pot, who quickly piped up and Asmodeus happily smiled. “A dance!” said Asmodeus and Alec shook his head. He couldn’t really… well, he dance with Magnus before, but-

“Oh, what a wonderful idea,” said Meliorn and flew to the stereo, turning it on.

“Magnus, I don’t dance,” said Alec, feeling sheepish - it was different then than it was before, but Magnus placed his hand onto his waist and winked. “I really don’t-”

“Liar,” said Magnus and chuckled, spinning Alec around and the hunter held onto Magnus for his dear life. Alec’s loud giggles filled the room, Magnus happily grinning as well and for the little time it was just them - no curse, no Camille and no idiots back at the Institute. Just Magnus and Alec… happily dancing, smiling and… it was heaven it what it was.

And there, in the corner of the room, one could hear the coffee pot singing along the song. “ _ Tale as old as time... _ ”


	9. Chapter 9

‘’Something’s wrong,’’ muttered Magnus as he was pacing around the loft. Alexander had left his loft that morning, telling him that he’d just make a quick visit to the Institute and that he’d be back in no time, but several hours have passed and Alexander still wasn’t back. Magnus was circling around the place, making everyone in there nervous as hell, but he couldn’t help it. Magnus had also tried calling Alexander, but he didn’t pick up, which was one of many telling things - Alec would never ignore his phone call and he was chewing on his lip, running fingers through his hair and he then only puffed his cheeks - what if someone got to him? It could be that idiot, Brian, that visited him the last time and Magnus felt himself getting worried even more. Magnus was worried sick and he then just sighed - he felt completely powerless, he couldn’t leave his loft.

Magnus had tried to leave his loft, but all it did to him was to bring him back into his loft. Going through the front door made him come back through the balcony. He didn’t know how many times he tried breaking the curse, but nothing worked and Camille wasn’t even that strong compared to him. Having a father that was a fallen angel and having _ dark _ magic from Edom gave Magnus strength, much more than Camille had, but even he wasn’t able to break the curse and he  _ tried.  _ Oh, he tried so many times, but in the end he just gave up. There was no point to it, it was just disappointment every single time and Magnus huffed under his breath.

‘’I can just feel it that something happened to Alexander,’’ muttered Magnus and he then clasped his hands together, his entire body shaking with fear and body. He knew that Alexander was strong, but if Brian had more people on his side, then they could have easily taken a hold of Alec and…  _ what if they hurt him _ ? Magnus felt his glamour stripping off and he growled silently. If someone even put a hand on Alec, he was going to rip their throat out - and he wasn’t even joking. He growled one more time, but then somehow managed to get himself under control and he just looked down, shaking his head and he looked around the apartment. His friends were also quiet, not daring to say much as Magnus was so upset that he could have easily lost it any moment now.

But there was another option… Camille. And honestly, that option scared him the most. Maybe Camille had gotten to Alexander. The Shadowhunters have been trying to stop her, but it was all in vain so far. There could be the possibility that Alec went onto a mission to stop her without telling him. Magnus was pretty certain that it could have happen, Alec not telling him as he didn’t want to make him worried. And what if Camille got her hands on Alec and… Magnus felt his stomach sinking as he didn’t even want to think of that option. Magnus had seen what Camille was able to do. Even though Magnus was much stronger, her magic did terrible, awful things. Magnus’ could as well and Camille was trying to make him cooperate with her, but he didn’t fall into her trap, at least not with that. But-

‘’Magnus, we need you to calm down,’’ said Catarina and hopped off the sofa that she was on - she was the only one that dared to go close to Magnus and the warlock looked at her, his eyes glowing and she quickly stopped walking. ‘’I mean,’’ said Catarina and then looked down, Magnus’ heart twisting because she looked scared of him. And if his friends got afraid of him, then who was there left to be there for him? If something happened to Alexander, they were all doomed. Magnus’ heart was breaking and he was again spiraling out of control. ‘’Look, we don’t know what really happened, maybe he got held back in his office,’’ said Catarina, trying to keep the spirits high in the loft, but it really wasn’t working. Meliorn was quick to back her up, but the others were just… silently sitting there and looking down, Asmodeus looking at his poor boy, who had such indescribable pain in his eyes that it broke his heart as well. 

‘’If Camille got her paws on him, I’ll kill her,’’ said Magnus, his voice dead serious and Catarina hissed. Oh, yes, that he could do, she was willing to help him. ‘’No, but maybe you’re right, maybe he’s just busy,’’ said Magnus and then nodded. ‘’I’ll, um, I’ll try calling him again, yes?’’ asked Magnus and then walked over to his phone and his hands were shaking a little bit. As cut off as he was from the outside world, at least phone still worked. ‘’I just hope he picks up,’’ muttered Magnus and then took in a deep breath, pressing his lips together as he was dialing Alec’s number. ‘’Please, pick up, Alexander, pick up,’’ was chanting the warlock as the phone was ringing.

About ten seconds later or so, someone managed to pick up the call after all and Magnus felt a wave of relief washing over him, only to be replaced by worry again, because the one who picked up wasn’t Alexander. It was a woman’s voice and his eyes widened. ‘’ _ Hello _ ?’’ asked the voice and Magnus felt his heart hammering even faster, though the voice seemed familiar. ‘’ _ Can I ask who’s calling _ ?’’ asked the voice and Magnus took in a deep breath.

‘’Magnus,’’ stammered Magnus and then his hold around the phone tightened, looking around to see the others just staring at him by the phone and he sighed. ‘’I called Alexander, who’s this?’’ he then asked and then pressed his lips together. 

‘’ _ I’m Izzy, Alec’s sister _ .’’

‘’Oh, Isabelle, thank God,’’ said Magnus and then closed his eyes. He didn’t really know Isabelle all that well as he had only seen her at the masquerade party, but Alec had told him enough about her for him to know that she could be trusted. ‘’I’m just wondering if Alexander is here, because he told me that he’d be back soon, but now it’s several hours later and he’s still not here,’’ said Magnus and then took in a deep breath and waited for Isabelle to say something back. Isabelle took in a deep breath as well and Magnus’ heart leaped into his throat when he heard her next words.

‘’ _ He’s not there with you? I saw him quite a while back, saying goodbye to you. He was heading back to your place, at least that’s what he told me, _ ’’ said Isabelle and Magnus felt like throwing up. ‘’ _ I thought it was weird for him to leave his phone here like that, but I just thought that he forgot it, _ ’’ she said then and then stopped talking, Magnus feeling that she was as worried as him.

‘’He never made it back,’’ whispered Magnus and needed to sit down.

‘’ _ Shit, shit, shit _ ,’’ said Isabelle and Magnus could hear her voice shaking. ‘’ _ The last place I’ve seen him was in his office after we had a little meeting in there. Then when I was leaving, he said that he’d head back to your place, _ ’’ said Isabelle, feeling her heart fastening as well. ‘’ _ I-I don’t know… maybe he… I don’t know, _ ’’ said Isabelle and then took in a deep breath.

‘’Could,’’ started Magnus. ‘’A few weeks ago I was attacked in my own home by someone called Brian,’’ said Magnus and Isabelle was quick to confirm that she knew all about Brian and the attack. ‘’And I know that the guy was put in a cell, so I doubt he’d be too fond of Alexander after he got out. Maybe could he be the reason why Alexander’s missing? Could he have done something to him?’’ asked Magnus and then shuddered.

‘’ _ Brian’s pretty weak compared to him. I mean he has been stalking Alec since I can remember, the guy’s literally obsessed with my brother. But he would never hurt him. Though he had gotten a bit out of the lines as of late and… by the Angel- _ ’’ said Isabelle, but then stopped talking. 

‘’Isabelle?’’ asked Magnus as he was very impatient. That didn’t sound too good - obsession and jealousy could do many dangerous things, Magnus was very well aware of that. ‘’Isabelle, tell me!’’

‘’ _ He… um, he’s been in the contact with someone named Raj _ ,’’ said Izzy and Magnus tensed up. There it was, that name again and he growled. ‘’ _ He somehow convinced that Alec hadn’t been exactly himself… claims that you’ve put him under some sort of a spell- _ ’’

‘’Oh, yeah, I know,’’ said Magnus and bared his fangs. 

‘’ _ Maybe they’ve gotten to him, I… haven’t seen neither of them the whole day, which is kind of odd considering everything that’s going down and- _ ’’

‘’If anything happens to Alec, I’ll kill them,’’ said Magnus and growled, startling Isabelle. 

‘’ _ Oh, I’ll be there to help you _ ,’’ said Izzy quickly and then made a little pause.  _ ‘’I’ll go get Jace… ask around if anyone had seen those two and… I hope to find out something. I mean- _ ’’

‘’Thank you,’’ muttered Magnus and then bit his lip. ‘’Call me if you find out something, yes?’’ asked Magnus and Isabelle promised him that she would. The phone call ended with Isabelle storming off and Magnus just slowly returning back to the living room, to sit down and just place his hand in between his palms. 

* * *

"I said let me go," hissed Alec trying to free himself of the restrains around his wrists as he was glaring at Brian. A few hours before, just as he was about to leave the Institute and was about to head over to Magnus, he got attacked. Usually, he would be able to fight them off, but there were far too many at the time and he tried to free them, but they got the best of him, overpowered him and dragged him to… he didn't even know where he was. It was an old, abandoned building. Still New York probably though, but no matter how hard he tried to escape, he couldn't, the metal around his wrists digging into the skin and he let out a moan of discomfort. As far from he gathered so far, Raj was behind this all, trying to get rid of him and be placed as the new Head of the Institute. Brian was placed there to guard him and Alec promised that he'd strangle both of them once he'd free himself.

But the worst part was that Raj and the others thought that Magnus was really working with Camille and that they were both behind those attacks, so they had a plan. First part was to get rid of Alec, so that he wouldn't get in the way of the second part of their plan, which was getting rid of Magnus. For good. To get rid of the  _ beast  _ as they liked to refer to him as now and Alec just wished he could- Alec gritted his teeth and tried to get rid of the cuffs again. "That won't help," said Brian and Alec glared at him.

"Mind your own fucking business."

"You'll see in the end that we had to do this. You've been poisoned by that beast's magic, but don't worry. We'll take care of him and will save you," said Brian and Alec clenched his jaw.

"The only beast around here is you," shot back Alec and then bowed his head down and shook his head - this was useless. If only there was a way for him to warn Magnus, though he probably already noticed that something was wrong. He didn't even have his phone with him, so he couldn't do anything. But  _ someone _ would notice  _ something.  _ There were far more people loyal to him and his friends at the Institute, so Alec could only hope, really, that someone noticed that he was missing. Though he told Isabelle that he was going to Magnus’, so the chances were very slim and- Alec shook his head and then bit his lip, putting all of his trust and hope that he had into his friends -  _ they were going to get him out from here! _

* * *

‘’Underhill,’’ said Isabelle, coming into the Security area of the Institute, where Underhill was carefully watching each and every camera at the Institute. Isabelle was pretty much panicking, but she needed to get herself under control if she wanted this search party for Alec to be a successful matter and she then took in a deep breath. Maybe Underhill had seen something before, so she had to try it with him. Underhill looked up and then arched an eyebrow - Izzy didn’t look in a good mood and he was quickly alerted. ‘’I have to ask you a few this,’’ she then said and Underhill nodded.

‘’Okay, what’s up?’’ asked Underhill and Isabelle took in a deep breath as she didn’t even know how to start the whole thing, but then she managed to collect herself and she clasped her hands together.

‘’You’ve been here all day?’’

‘’Yes, pretty much,’’ said Theodore.

‘’Okay, good, then maybe you might’ve seen something strange,’’ said Isabelle and then sat down next to him. ‘’Alec’s been missing,’’ said Isabelle, Theodore’s eyes widening and he then quickly came closer to Izzy, strolling his chair closer and he had so many questions - what the hell was going on? ‘’So, maybe, have you seen something weird on the security cameras?’’ asked Isabelle and Underhill shook his head - he would have noticed if he saw his friend getting kidnapped.

‘’No, not really,’’ said Underhill, but then stopped talking and his eyes widened.

‘’Theo, what’s the matter?’’ asked Isabelle. That expression on his face couldn’t mean anything good and she swallowed thickly. 

‘’Before,’’ said Underhill. ‘’About three hours ago… maybe a bit more,’’ said Underhill and Isabelle tensed up. That sounded like around the time Alec was leaving the Institute. ‘’There’s been an incident down in the main hall, two of our guys have gotten into some sort of a argument that lead to them having a fight. Have gotten quite physical with each other as well, though, it seemed a bit strange as… I don’t know, but,’’ said Underhill and then bit his lip. ‘’Got me distracted enough, I went there to settle things down. It didn’t take more than ten minutes or so,’’ he said and Isabelle’s face had gotten paler. ‘’Do you think it could have been a distraction?’’ asked Underhill and Isabelle only nodded.

‘’Could have been,’’ muttered Izzy and then took in a deep breath. ‘’C-can you please turn back the time on the recordings you’ve got from Alec’s office?’’ asked Izzy and Underhill quickly nodded and with a few clicks, he managed to get into the archive of the recordings, speeding it up a little bit and then they focused on Alec’s office.

The meeting that Alec had in his office was all caught on camera, so Underhill decided to speed up the recording a little bit. Then, just like Isabelle said, she was the last one to leave the office, watching herself wave goodbye to Alec and then the door had closed after that. Izzy could also see Alec getting ready to leave the place as well, but then the door suddenly opened  _ again _ and through it stepped a small group of Shadowhunters that were known to associate with Raj, attacked Alec. It was pretty clear that Alec was trying his best to get himself free, but then Izzy watched with horror in her eyes how one of them hit Alec at the back of his head, knocking him out and she covered her mouth.

‘’Fucking bastards,’’ slipped past her lips and Underhill felt his anger growing. ‘’The fuck is their gain here?’’

‘’They’re working for Raj, their plan is to bring Alec down and since they’re convinced that Magnus is behind those attacks together with that witch, they’ll be going after him. Alec was the only obstacle left, but now-’’

‘’They’re free to do whatever they want,’’ muttered Isabelle and Underhill nodded. ‘’Fuck.’’

‘’How do we even know where they’ve taken Alec?’’ whispered Underhill and ran his fingers through his hair. 

‘’Leave that all to me,’’ said a voice as the door quickly opened, Jace and Clary barging in. Jace’s face was red with anger and he was literally fuming with anger. They’ve got his Parabatai and he was going to cut and (or) burn all of them. Especially the two idiots that were in charge and he firmed fists with his hands. ‘’I was able to track him using the Tracking rune and his phone,’’ said Jace and Isabelle’s eyes widened.  _ Thank fucking God for that!  _ ‘’I think I know where they’ve taken him. Clary will create a portal to there,’’ said Jace and Clary was quick to agree.

‘’Just let me get to them and they’ll be sorry,’’ said the redhead, pissed as hell, too and Isabelle felt a wave of relief washing over her. The attack on Magnus’ loft  _ couldn’t _ happen, it was just  _ not _ going to happen. Isabelle knew that he was through a lot, so just like Alec, she was going to protect him. And Alec. Both of them.

‘’Good,’’ said Izzy and then turned to Underhill. ‘’You notify the Clave of what’s been going on. Tell my mother and father of what it’s been going on,’’ said Izzy and Underhill quickly nodded. Robert and Maryse might’ve been recently divorced, but they always came together when it came to their children, which they were super protective of. ‘’Jace, Clary… we better get going, we can’t have them attacking an innocent warlock in his own home and thus strain our relations with the Downworld even more,’’ she said, stepping up and quickly headed over to the weaponry, Jace and Clary quick to follow behind her.

* * *

‘’Still no news about Alexander,’’ said Magnus under his breath, again walking around in circles, biting on his nails and he just didn’t know how to calm himself down, his glamour slipping all the time, but he really couldn’t control himself. Besides, it was just a matter of a few days before his time was going to run out, but that wasn’t what he was concerned about at all. Alexander was in danger and he… ‘’I can’t have anything happen to him,’’ muttered Magnus and looked at his father.

‘’I’m sure he is okay,’’ said Asmodeus and Magnus shook his head. ‘’He’s a tough Shadowhunter, he won’t let people get to him just like that,’’ said the coffee pot, though he was getting worried as well. ‘’His sister will call soon, you’ll see,’’ said Asmodeus and Magnus bowed his head down, shrugging. He needed a drink, but he also couldn’t… ‘’Magnus, my boy, calm down,’’ said Asmodeus, but Magnus just growled back and then looked away. 

‘’I can’t calm down,’’ hissed Magnus and then banged his fists against the desk. ‘’I’m fucking useless, I can’t do anything to help them,’’ roared Magnus and then picked up the desk and just threw it against the wall, his magic sparking up and made the lightbulb above them explode and Asmodeus hopped over to his son - he really needed to make him calm down, because- ‘’This is all  _ my _ fault,’’ said Magnus and Asmodeus was quick to disagree.

‘’No, it isn’t, they’re just-’’

‘’If it wasn’t for me, none of this would be happening,’’ said Magnus.

‘’But then you’d never have the possibility to turn back to-’’

‘’Doesn’t matter. Alexander would be safe,’’ whispered Magnus and then bowed his head down. His love for Alexander really surpassed all limits and Asmodeus sighed sadly. ‘’And now, he’s… ugh,’’ muttered Magnus, bowing his head down and felt his eyes welling up with tears of frustration and anger. ‘’And the worst is that I know can’t do  _ anything  _ about it,’’ said Magnus and then sighed. 

‘’It hurts, doesn’t it? Knowing that your loved one is in danger, but you can’t do anything to help them. Just stand by and watch them suffer,’’ said a voice behind Magnus and the warlock froze, because he knew it and he felt an eerie silence then falling down in his loft. Neither of his friends dared to speak, even Asmodeus grew silent and then  _ that laughter _ that chilled Magnus down to the bone. That laughed that haunted him for fourty years. That- ‘’And the time is still passing by… tick-tock… tick-tock… slowly, gradually-’’

‘’ _ Enough, _ ’’ growled Magnus and then started shaking all over, losing control completely. There was no way that he was coming back from  _ this.  _ Not when  _ she _ was in his loft and he slowly turned around, hunching his back and baring his fangs at her, sparks of magic flying under his fingers, while his tail was flailing around, glamour down and he then howled once more. ‘’Camille!’’

* * *

Although Raj had quite a lot of people in his side, it was surprisingly easy for Jace, Clary and Isabelle to take them down, but then again, it was no surprise really. All three of them, but especially Jace and Izzy were killing machines when it came to protecting their family, so they really didn’t stand a chance, disarming pretty much everyone, Clary sending all of them straight to the Institute via her portal. In the end, only Brian and Raj were there left, Isabelle holding Brian with her whip and Jace had Raj down, holding him tightly, placing his hands behind his back and then kicked him nice and hard, shoving him forwards. They would tell them where Alec was, but it was no mystery as Alec started yelling for help quite soon after that and Clary hurried to the next room through the door, Jace and Isabelle following her.

Clary found Alec tied on the chair, his hands cuffed behind his back and he was struggling to get free. He heard yelling from the other room, thinking of the worse, but then he saw Clary stepping through the door and he had never been so happy to see her before in his life. He perked up and then his eyes darkened when he saw Brian and Raj. ‘’Oh, Alec, you’re okay,’’ said Clary, using a rune on the cuffs quickly and Alec was a free man, massaging his aching wrists and he then happily looked at Izzy and Jace.

‘’Thank God,’’ muttered Jace and Alec nodded.

‘’How did you know-’’

‘’Oh, don’t worry about that, we’ll fill you in later,’’ said Izzy and Alec then nodded. ‘’Let’s just say that this rescue mission is all thanks to Magnus,’’ she then added and Alec’s eyes widened.  _ Magnus, right!  _ He must had been worried sick and-

‘’And the others?’’

‘’Back at the Institute,’’ said Clary. ‘’Underhill called the Clave, they’ll take it from there.’’

‘’No, they won’t believe us, they-’’

‘’I called mom and dad, they’re bound to believe us after what they did to you,’’ said Isabelle quickly and Alec eventually nodded. She then kicked Brian again after he started squirming in her arms and Alec firmed fists with his hands.

‘’And these two?’’

‘’Oh, we thought that you might want to spend a little extra time with them. A little one on one moment,’’ said Jace and then shoved Raj again as he was trying to hit him. A little grin spread across Alec’s face and he cracked his knuckles. 

‘’Have I ever told you that you’re the best Parabatai ever?’’ asked Alec and then his eyes darkened when he look at Brian and Raj, but as much as he’d love to beat them up for good, he bit his lip and shook his head. ‘’But, no, I’m not stepping down on their level,’’ said Alec and then took in a deep breath. ‘’I need to get to Magnus, he must be worried sick by now,’’ said Alec and then took in a deep breath. ‘’I’ll make sure you two will get the highest punishment there is, I can tell you that,’’ said Alec and shoved Brian back. ‘’Especially you,’’ he said, pointing at his stalker and then moved away.

_ Violence wasn’t the answer… sadly.  _

* * *

‘’Get the hell out of my apartment,’’ growled Magnus and clenched his jaw. ‘’You have absolutely no right to show your face back here after what you’ve done to  _ us _ ,’’ said Magnus and then stepped closer to Camille.

‘’I’m just back to sit back and watch the show,’’ said Camille and looked at the others in the room, who were hiding. As much as they’d love to strangle her, they were all to small and weak to actually go up against her. Not in this for, it was impossible. ‘’You only have a few days left and I can already tell that you’re losing control. How lovely,’’ said Camille and started laughing. ‘’Ah, it’ll be such a sweet revenge,’’ she finished and then dared to sit onto the couch. 

‘’You’re truly a sadistic and-’’

‘’This is all your fault, Magnus,’’ said Camille and then laughed. ‘’You’ve broken my heart and after everything I did for you.’’

‘’You did nothing but cause pain to me,’’ growled Magnus. There were so many emotions going through his mind, the main one was the thirst for Camille’s blood and he had to pace himself. ‘’And for what?’’

‘’Look, all you had to do to break the curse was to find one true love and yet… four decades have passed by and you’re still…  _ alone, _ ’’ said Camille and started laughing. ‘’After all, I’ve been always the only one who had ever loved you,’’ she said and then dared to step close enough to Magnus to ran her finger over his cheek. ‘’It’s always been me, but you’ve ruined our trust. So now you get to suffer.’’

‘’You never loved me,’’ growled Magnus and captured Camille with his magic before she got the chance to escape. His dark red magic lifted her off the ground and shoved her up against the wall, a wicked smile on Magnus’ lips as he saw her squirm in pain. He could tell that she was honestly surprised, she didn’t expect him to attack her like this. Did she honestly think he still loved her? She was pathetic and weak compared to him. 

‘’Magnus, maybe you should-’’ started Ragnor, but Magnus growled and the candelabra hid. It was obvious that  _ Magnus _ wasn’t in control, but the beats within was.

‘’I’ll enjoy watching the life disappear from your eyes,’’ said Magnus and made his magic constrict around her, like a snake constrictor, getting tighter and tighter, making it hard for Camille to breathe. ‘’I’ll make sure to make this as painful for you as possible. Slow and nice death suits you nice, Camille,’’ growled Magnus and then pinned her harder against the wall. Oh, how he wanted to sink his teeth into her throat and-

‘’Magnus, stop, you’ll kill her!’’ screamed Asmodeus.

‘’Good.’’

‘’Don’t you see this is what she wants?’’ yelled Raphael and Magnus looked at Camille, who was against laughing. Magnus was just proving her point - he was a monster. Not only by appearance, but by his actions as well.

‘’That’s it, prove all of them what a monster you are!’’ said Camille.

‘’I’m not a monster!’’

‘’Yes you are,’’ she said, breathlessly. ‘’And  _ no one  _ will ever love you back!

Then something snapped inside of Magnus. ‘’Fine! You want a monster, here you have it,’’ he growled and quickly made her stop talking. Instead, a loud scream of pain escaped her lips and Magnus smiled. Good, let her suffer. The painful, the better. He was so gone that he didn’t even notice someone knocking on the door. And the others tried to warn him, but he didn’t listen, he didn’t hear. All he wanted to hear were Camille’s screams getting louder.

The one knocking was Alec, who headed straight over to Magnus’ after he made sure that the idiots were all safely secured back at the Institute. And he tried to wait for Magnus to open the door, but then he heard commotion inside, followed by a woman screaming and he wasted no time, quickly kicking the door open and he barged inside, having his bow and quiver, ready to attack. He ran into the living room and then all what happened next felt like slow motion to Alec.

There was Camille, pinned up against the wall, held by magic… the one holding her looked like Magnus, yet not quite. It was supposed to be Magnus, he was wearing his clothes, but… his face… Alec released his bow and quiver, which fell with a loud thump on the floor. For a second, Magnus got distracted and he looked towards the door, his magic stopping the moment that he saw Alec by the door, Camille falling down, laying motionless on the floor and Magnus’ world stopped - everything stopped, because  _ Alec _ had seen him without glamour. Alec had seen him for what he truly was. Alec-

Alec didn’t dare to step closer to Magnus, who was now leaning against the wall and he slowly slid down it - he couldn’t breathe. Breathing was… too difficult, his chest heavy and his eyes… full of tears.  _ Monster, monster, monster, monster.  _ He was unable to hold himself back when it came to Camille. He almost killed her - that wasn’t him! Magnus let out a loud sob and Alec blinked a few times. Magnus had a tail… and  _ fangs.  _ Those he saw the last time and his face was different. It looked like a… panther? Kind of, a pair of feline ears sitting on top of his head - so that time in the garden, he was right! He really saw ears on Magnus’ head.

Magnus looked at Alec, who was silent and he sobbed louder. ‘’Don’t look at me,’’ hiccuped Magnus. ‘’I’m a monster, I know,’’ he carried on, hiding his face into his palms and he then shook his head. ‘’I-I’m sorry, I didn’t…  _ oh, God! _ ’’ sobbed Magnus and Alec’s heart broke, finally moving and he was quickly by Magnus’ side, kneeling down and Magnus expected yelling or… he didn’t even know what.

‘’Magnus, look at me,’’ whispered Alec and Magnus looked up, forcing himself, feeling Alec’s hand on his cheek. It wasn’t a slap, it was a gentle hold and he- ‘’I don’t think you’re a monster,’’ whispered Magnus. ‘’By the Angel, you’re not a monster,’’ said Alec and slid his hand behind Magnus’ back. ‘’So, this is it? This is why you’re called a monster by others?’’ asked Alec and Magnus nodded, sobbing louder. 

‘’Sorry for lying, I-’’

‘’Can’t see where the monster part begins,’’ said Alec. He wasn’t going to lie, this was rather unusual and he was freaked out, but… ‘’She did this to you?’’ asked Alec, pointing to Camille and Magnus nodded. ‘’It’s sort of cute, you know,’’ said Alec and Magnus gave him a look of sheer disbelief. ‘’You, with cat ears.’’

‘’It’s not  _ cat _ -’’

‘’I know, I’m kidding, but,’’ said Alec and shook his head. ‘’I… this won’t make me love you any less, Magnus,’’ said Alec again, holding Magnus’ face with both of his hands and Magnus burst into tears again, trying to swallow them back. ‘’You’re so stunning, Magnus, so beautiful,’’ said Alec and then curiously touched the ears. ‘’Hmm, soft too,’’ he said and giggled, Magnus just sitting there. ‘’God, I love you so much,’’ whispered Alec and then leaned in slowly, holding Magnus close and the warlock shivered with anticipation when he felt Alec pressing his lips up against his finally.


	10. Chapter 10

Magnus gasped when he felt Alec’s lips pressing up against his own, taking him quite a couple of seconds to actually process what was going on. Alexander’s soft lips were gently pressing up against his, making Magnus gasp again and he shivered all over. It was just a simple touch of their lips, innocent kiss, but it also felt as so much more. It almost felt like a first kiss for Magnus, it’s been so long and it was the first time that such a simple kiss was able to make him feel so many things and a low growl escaped past his lips, but Alexander didn’t move away. Instead, he kissed him again, that time putting a bit more pressure against Magnus’ lips and the warlock slowly started responding. It took him a while to realise that he should be kissing his boyfriend back, returning him a slow and uncertain kiss, making Alec smile as he cupped his face, still holding onto the soft ear with his other hand and Magnus’ eyebrows disappeared into his hairline when he felt Alec softly capturing his lower lip in between his own.

Magnus’ fingers were trying to grasp onto something as he was being kissed - being deprived of kisses and touches for four decades made him completely touch starved, but it wasn’t until then that he realised just how much he had missed it, another growl escaping his lips as he finally stopped holding back and grabbed Alec’s neck, pulling him closer and then he kissed him properly, making Alec gasp at the process, but in the end the hunter only smiled when he saw that the warlock finally stopped worrying and he just went with the flow, allowing himself to get completely swept up by Alec’s kisses. 

Kissing Alexander was amazing and Magnus wished he could never stop the kisses, wanting to go on forever, leaning up a bit more and as Alec pulled back, Magnus’ lips chased against his, kissing him again and Alec chuckled a little bit, but could he really blame Magnus? No. The warlock was gently shivering in his arms as Alec wrapped them around Magnus’ waist. Both of them were still sitting on the floor, but somehow, Magnus managed to climb into Alec’s lap, leaning down and then kissing the hunter again, holding him by the back of his neck and Alec was trying to keep up with Magnus’ starving kisses. Magnus’ chest felt tight, it was bursting and it was getting hard to breathe - he was overwhelmed by how many things he was feeling at the same time and he-

‘’Alexander,’’ gasped Magnus and then pressed their foreheads together, feeling Alec’s hand slip down onto his  _ tail _ , making Magnus let out quite a surprised growl and he then looked down at the hunter, who was now waggling his eyebrows, Magnus’ cheeks bright red and Alec chuckled. Oh, he liked that, did he? Magnus was adorable, still gazing up into those golden eyes, holding his cheek ever so gently and he chuckled. 

‘’By the Angel, you’re adorable like this,’’ said Alec and gently kissed the tip of Magnus’ nose, who let out a low growl and then bowed his head down. Now he was kind of irritated - there was nothing  _ adorable _ about the form he was currently in, okay?! He was turned into a wild beast, a black panther, kind of. Camille’s spell didn’t quite work, so he was only half-animal, but still… People  _ ran _ when they saw him, not call him adorable. But the thing was, while Magnus was indeed quite terrifying to others, in Alec’s vision he was just a little kitten. Alexander saw through that - it was the power of true love and even if he felt a bit freaked out before, Alec was now completely in awe and he could have sworn that he fell in love with Magnus even more, if that was even possible.

‘’Alexander,’’ grumbled Magnus.

‘’Are you  _ purring _ ?’’ asked Alec, chuckling softly and Magnus gave him a horrified look. No he  _ wasn’t  _ purring, but then his jaw dropped when he realised that he indeed was - what the fuck was going on?! Alec was able to reduce him into a purring cat? How the hell did that even work? Though sitting in Alec’s lap was indeed very comfortable and- ‘’God, I love you so much,’’ whispered Alec again and then bit his lip. ‘’No matter how you look, I’ll always love you,’’ whispered Alec and Magnus’ heart filled with joy, leaning down and he pressed his lips against Alexander’s again. The moment their lips touched, Magnus took in a surprised breath because something didn’t feel right, feeling sparks of magic flying all around him and he started to panic - what was going on? 

‘’Magnus?’’ muttered Alec as Magnus quickly climbed off of him as he was taken into a whirl of blue magic, surrounding him and Alec’s jaw dropped - did he do something wrong? Alec’s heart was beating hard and fast, looking at Camille just in case if she did something wrong, but she still wasn’t moving and then he looked back at Magnus, who was now on his knees, hunched over and had his arms wrapped around his stomach, trying to even out his breathing, Alec able to hear his quiet growls and…  _ Magnus was in pain.  _ ‘’Magnus, what the hell is going on?’’ asked Alec and was quickly by Magnus’ side, who quickly tried to move away as he didn’t want the magic to hit Alec. But as he tried to move away, he was quickly pushed down onto his knees and Alec quickly caught him and prevented Magnus from falling on the ground.

‘’I don’t know,’’ whispered Magnus and then growled. ‘’I feel strange, something’s wrong,’’ muttered Magnus and then his eyes widened when he looked around the loft. He wasn’t the only one who was consumed by the magic - all of his other friends were consumed by it and Alec’s jaw dropped when he focused on the candelabra, which was slowly, but gradually growing bigger and bigger and slowly changing his form -  _ he was becoming a person! _ The magic around Magnus slowly wore out and he was sitting on the floor, Alec’s arms around him, hugging him and Magnus then opened his eyes slowly and pulled back - he felt different. He didn’t know how to explain it, but with the curse he constantly felt like he wasn’t alone and completely in control over himself. The beast within him wanted to jump out at any occasion and he felt constantly restless, but now he felt… at peace. Like he was finally alone in his own body and-

‘’Magnus, your friends!’’ piped up Alec saw that Ragnor wasn’t a candelabra anymore, but there stood a full grown man in front of him, with little horns sticking from his head and- ‘’Can someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?’’ asked Alec and then jumped when the clock transformed into a vampire. ‘’Magnus?’’ asked Alec and then turned to Magnus, the feline features slowly disappearing and Magnus blinked a few times. This was unbelievable, but…  _ Alec had broken the curse.  _ That was what it took -  _ a true love’s kiss.  _ It took Magnus to finally realise what the hell had happened and he just blinked a few times, screaming internally and he then slowly turned to Alexander, who was very much confused. 

‘’You did it,’’ whispered Magnus.

‘’Did what?!’’

‘’You’ve broken the curse,’’ said Magnus and then shuddered, placing his hands on top of his cheeks and a little smile spread across his face. He had no glamour on this time and he was so happy that he could cry, he probably  _ was  _ crying, he didn’t really know anymore and he then chuckled as he looked around his loft and slowly saw his friends transforming back to their usual selves, Marcel popping up next, Alec’s eyes widening as the teacup transformed as well and he then looked at Magnus. How did he break the curse? Seriously, what the hell did he do?! All that he did was kiss Magnus and…  _ oh!  _ ‘’This is unbelievable,’’ said Magnus, smiling through his tears and then he threw himself around Alec’s neck, knocking him onto the floor and then he climbed on top of him, kissing him roughly and deeply, making Alec laugh as he then pulled away, but Magnus wasn’t done yet, kissing every centimetre of Alec’s face that he could get his lips on and Alec was just… all smiles. 

‘’Okay, Magnus, calm down,’’ said Alec and Magnus looked down and then nodded. He was calm… kind of. At least he thought so. ‘’Okay, now… care to explain how I broke the curse?’’ asked Alec and Magnus nodded.

‘’True love’s kiss,’’ said Magnus quickly and Alec’s jaw dropped. ‘’I couldn’t tell you before about the curse, but basically Camille cursed me because I broke up with her and the way to break the spell was for me to find someone who would truly love me - with and without the glamour. She was certain that I’d never find someone, but,’’ said Magnus and then cupped Alec’s face, sighing happily and then he just kissed him again.  _ Ah, he needed to make up for all of the lost kisses _ . ‘’You love me,’’ he whispered and felt himself tearing up again. ‘’Like for real - you’re my true love, and I-’’

‘’Of course I do,’’ said Alec and leaned up to press a kiss against the warlock’s lips. ‘’Hold on a moment,’’ said Alec and Magnus moaned in protest when the younger one broke their kiss. ‘’Does that mean that the cat eyes are gone as well?’’ asked Alec with a pout and Magnus gave him a surprised look - what was that all of the sudden? Alec happened to  _ love _ his cat eyes and Magnus arched his eyebrow. ‘’I mean it would be such a pity to have your golden eyes completely gone,’’ he carried on and Magnus grinned. 

‘’Oh, you mean these?’’ asked Magnus and then dropped the little bit of glamour he still had on to cover up his warlock mark and Alec quickly nodded.  _ Thank the angels, the cat eyes were still there  _ and a dopey smile spread across Alec’s face as he was gazing down onto Magnus’ face. ‘’Oh, these are here to stay for good,’’ said Magnus and then giggled as he was pulled down in for yet another kiss.

As the two of them were busy making out, Catarina happily stretched out her limbs and then looked at the others, who were slowly walking around and stretching out as well. Oh, it was such a strange feeling being able to walk again on two feet, thought Catarina and then looked at Ragnor, who slowly walked to her and gave her a long, long hug. The duo was soon jumped on by Meliorn, who was in such a good mood -  _ ah, finally. Lightwood was able to break the curse and they were all free.  _

‘’Finally free,’’ sobbed Marcel, who was hanging around Raphael’s neck and even though that the younger vampire was more than happy to be back to his usual self, he really didn’t know what to do with the soft, sobbing soul and he looked at Asmodeus, who was now sitting on the couch and was flexing out his legs. ‘’Oh, see Raphi, I was right! Alec was the one,  _ amour _ always wins,’’ he continued and then as quick as he started sobbing, he stopped and then excitedly clapped his hands. ‘’Oh! Oh! Teddy awaits, I need to pay a little visit! Oh my God, this is so exciting! I literally cannot believe this is finally happening. Oh, I do hope that he’ll like me and that he won’t be disappointed,’’ was blabbering Marcel, Magnus and Alec looking at each other and then they started laughing. 

Alec and Magnus soon joined in celebration with the others and it was Alec’s turn to get swamped with people, literally all of them thanking him - especially Asmodeus, who kept Alec busy with an extra long hug. Magnus had to step in and drag his boyfriend away from his father, who was then just happily sighing by the side. Alec was in the middle of them with Magnus, just enjoying the celebratory mood that everyone was a part of, everyone seemingly forgetting that they weren’t alone in the loft. So, it pretty much slid by all of them how Camille slowly picked herself off the floor and was slowly approaching them.

Camille was furious, she was absolutely humiliated because Magnus was able to overpower her. Truth be told, the curse had to be maintained, so that used up a lot of her powers - it was the reason why she went on the attacking spree as she couldn’t keep it up on her own. She was getting weaker and was being drained, but in the end, it would be worth it as Magnus would be forever turned into that beast as she was pretty much sure that he’d never find anyone that would love him. At the end, it would be worth all of the pain that she put herself through. She thought that her mere presence would be able to make Magnus completely crack and it was working at first, but then… she didn’t really expect Magnus pinning her down like that. In her deranged logic, he still loved her - she thought that over the decades, Magnus would see that she was the only one who was able to love him. 

Something had changed and when she saw Magnus surrounded by his friends  _ and  _ that Shadowhunter, wshe lost it. She knew that the curse was broken, she could feel it, but… she wasn’t going to let Magnus get away with it. She’d use every last bit of her magic to destroy Magnus once and for all. And this would be the perfect chance for her as no one was paying attention to her - she’d sneak up from behind and destroy him when he last expected it. She gritted her teeth and then started walking closer to Magnus and his friends. Asmodeus was the first one who noticed Camille and his eyes widened - she really wasn’t thinking much. There were three warlocks  _ and  _ a Greater Demon stacked up against her. She was really-

‘’Magnus, watch out,’’ said Asmodeus and quickly stepped in front of his son. He didn’t know really how powerful she still was, but he was there to protect him, his dark magic overflowing under his fingers and Magnus quickly turned around, his eyes wide when he saw that Camille was back on her feet. Not for long though. ‘’If you want to get to him, you’ll first have to get through to me and I’d  _ love _ to see you try,’’ said Asmodeus.

‘’And us,’’ said Catarina, Ragnor by her side as well and Magnus bit his lips. His friends were really-

‘’Oh, don’t you guys have all the fun,’’ said Maia and her eyes sparkled green. ‘’Oh, I’ve been looking forward to this for years, I’ll rip her throat out,’’ she growled and the two vampires stepped over to her side, Marcel baring his fangs and Raphael did his, making Camille slowly started walking back, where she bumped into Meliorn.

‘’Boo,’’ he said and then grinned. ‘’You were saying?’’

‘’Pathetic as always, Magnus,’’ she scoffed. ‘’Having your little friends fight your battles. Bring it on, I can take care of all of you,’’ she said and Maia hunched her back. Oh, she couldn’t wait to finally show her a piece of her mind. Just as she was about to pounce Camille, the witch tried to summon her magic and aim it at Asmodeus, but then as she extended out her hands…  _ nothing  _ came out. She narrowed her eyes and tried again. ‘’No, what?!’’ she screamed on top of her lungs. ‘’My powers,’’ she said and then looked down onto her hands. ‘’You did something to me,’’ hissed Camille and looked at Magnus. Camille was… powerless? Oh, this was exciting and interesting at the same time. She tried to summon her  _ real _ face, but that also didn’t work and she yelled.

‘’Um, what is going on?’’ whispered Alec.

‘’Seems like Camille over there lost her powers,’’ said Asmodeus happily and then crossed his arms on top of his chest. ‘’Since you’ve broken the curst, her magic must be completely fried off… for good I’d say,’’ said Asmodeus and then watched how Camille fell down onto her knees and banged her fists against the floor.

‘’No!’’

‘’Karma is a bitch,’’ said Raphael and then smiled.

‘’Mmm pity, I really wanted to kick her ass,’’ said Maia, but then stepped back a little bit and sighed in disappointment. ‘’Still, she had it coming.’’

‘’So, she’s harmless now?’’ asked Alec and Magnus nodded. So it seemed so. ‘’Good, then this should make the next part pretty easy,’’ said Alec and looked at Magnus. ‘’Do you have handcuffs?’’ he asked and Magnus’ eyes lit up.

‘’Oh, Alexander-’’ he started, but Alec flushed and then rolled his eyes.

‘’Magnus,  _ focus!’’ _ said Alec and Magnus nodded. ‘’I need something to keep her contained,’’ he said, but Magnus then quickly agreed that he’d make a pair with his magic and Alec clicked with his tongue, looking at Camille, stepping to her and quickly caught up to her before she was able to run away. ‘’By the Authority of the Clave you’re under arrest,’’ he said and Magnus happily bound her hands up behind her back and even though she tried resisting, she didn’t really achieve much, looking like a dishevelled sparrow and Magnus happily smiled. 

‘’Magnus,’’ she whined.

‘’Need a portal to the Institute?’’ asked Magnus and Alec nodded - right, Magnus was free now! He could finally leave his loft, right? Magnus felt his heart hammering against his chest, because it’s been decades since he had been able to leave his place, his hands itching to finally create a portal that would actually lead him out of his apartment. After others agreed that they’d wait for him to get back, he decided he’d help Alec out with transporting Camille to the Institute, but just as they were about to step through the portal, Marcel tugged onto Alec’s shirt.

‘’Can I come?’’ he said.

Alec grinned and nodded. ‘’Oh yeah, Underhill will be happy to see you. Come,’’ said Alec and Marcel was buzzing with excitement as he ran through the portal first and Alec only smiled, following the excited vampire, Magnus stepping through it the last one.

* * *

A sudden portal being created in the middle of the Institute brought a lot of attention, Jace and Isabelle quickly running to the source of the commotion and Isabelle’s eyes widened when she saw Alec and Magnus there. There was also a vampire that she didn’t know and…  _ Camille!  _ Jace looked at Isabelle and then bought of them headed over to their brother. Alec smiled when he saw his siblings and he lead Camille straight to them. She might have not had her powers anymore, but she still needed to face the consequences for her actions and he looked at Magnus, who was just standing there and observing everything. So much had changed since he had last seen the Institute and he was just overwhelmed - it just felt so surreal to hm, huffing under his breath and then he looked at Marcel, who was also speechless - it felt weird being out on the open.

‘’You’ve captured Camille?’’ asked Jace, impressed and Alec happily nodded. ‘’Man, you’re awesome, how the hell did you manage to do that?’’ asked Jace and then he looked at Magnus, who was silently standing in the back. As soon as he’d get rid of her, he was going to Magnus! 

‘’I’ve had some help,’’ said Alec, pointing to Magnus and Jace’s eyes widened.

‘’Oh, Magnus’ here too!’’ said Jace and then looked at Izzy.

‘’But I thought he couldn’t leave his place!’’

‘’Seems all of that’s taken care of,’’ said Alec and then pressed his lips together. ‘’Either way, here’s Camille, take her to Idris and don’t let me see her ever again,’’ grumbled Alec and then shuddered, handing her over to Isabelle, who was holding her tightly and Camille tried to struggle, but it was all in vain. ‘’I’ll tell you more later,’’ said Alec and then Isabelle nodded. ‘’How’s Raj and the gang?’’ asked Alec and then looked at Jace, concerned, hoping that the Clave didn’t side with  _ them. i _

Isabelle and Jace looked at each other. ‘’Character building,’’ they said in unison and Alec chuckled - his wish came true!

‘’So fast?’’

‘’Oh, yeah,’’ said Izzy. ‘’After mom and dad found out what they’ve done… captured you and all,’’ said Izzy and then grinned. ‘’Not much convincing had to be done. Brian and Raj will spend the next few years on the wrangel Island,’’ said Isabelle happily and Alec’s eyes lit up as he imagined both of them being chased by polar bears. Amazing!

‘’You should’ve seen Robert, I’ve never seen him so pissed,’’ said Jace and then rubbed his palms together. ‘’Seems like everything ended well, huh?’’ he then added and Alec nodded - that was for sure. It was more than  _ well _ if he was being honest and he then sighed happily. 

‘’Izzy, take her to the guards, they’ll take her to Idris,’’ said Alec, being all in his Shadowhunter mode and Magnus was drooling from the side - he just looked so  _ authoritative _ and  _ hot.  _ Isabelle nodded and Alec then looked at Jace. ‘’And, Jace, can you bring me Theo?’’ he then asked, Jace arching in eyebrow, but he didn’t ask too many questions and he just nodded. Alec then chuckled and returned back to Magnus and Marcel, Magnus biting his lip and he then stepped closer.

‘’I like you in your Shadowhunter mode,’’ purred Magnus happily.

‘’I have a Shadowhunter mode?’’ asked Alec and then started laughing. 

Marcel was about to start whining and complaining about where the hell was his  _ Teddy,  _ but then he saw his curly blonde coming down the stairs and his eyes widened.  _ He was there!  _ Marcel couldn’t contain his excitement and he just decided to approach him himself, because Underhill was walking far too slow for his liking. Underhill came as soon as he heard that Alec was looking for him, quite satisfied with the result how it all went down with Raj and his gang, so he decided to tell Alec more about. That was until he saw that Alec was there with  _ Magnus _ and his eyes widened, because he thought that Magnus couldn’t leave his apartment. But all of those questions trailed off when he laid his eyes upon a young man that was coming his way and Underhill’s eyes widened even more so.

Underhill didn’t know him - at least he thought that he didn’t - but he had the prettiest smile and the prettiest green eyes that he had seen. Theodore blinked a few times and then cleared his throat, getting ready to greet him, fixing his hair as he felt his cheeks heating up a little bit - he really wasn’t used to be in the presence of people that he fancied and he fancied this one  _ a lot!  _ He then bit his lip and just like that- Marcel threw himself around his neck and Underhill froze -  _ have they met?  _ Underhill had so many questions to why this handsome stranger was hugging him, but he soon realised that he  _ did _ know him.

‘’Teddy!’’ cheered Marcel happily and Underhill recognised him immediately.  _ This was Marcel?!  _ Alec really wasn’t kidding when he told him that he was easy on the eyes. He was  _ gorgeous  _ and Underhill slowly returned him the hug, slowly pulling back and Marcel looked up into his blue eyes. ‘’You seem shocked,’’ giggled the vampire and Underhill slowly nodded. ‘’I’m not a teacup anymore!’’ he pointed out.

‘’Yes, I can see,’’ said Underhill and looked up and down. ‘’You’re…  _ wow, _ ’’ he then said and flushed. Marcel flushed as well and then grinned.

‘’No, you are, silly,’’ said Marcel and then sighed happily. ‘’Now I can finally do this,’’ said Marcel and leaned up, going on his tiptoes and then pressed one shy kiss against Underhill’s cheek and Theo was melting. As those two lovebirds were chatting up, Alec gently tugged onto Magnus’ hand and lead him towards the door, slowly leading him outside and Magnus let out a small gasp.

‘’The city’s changed so much,’’ whispered Magnus and then slowly followed Alexander out. ‘’I mean I still can’t believe this is true… that I’m free,’’ he then said and then intertwined their fingers, sighing happily and then he looked down, swinging their hands back and forth, Alec letting out a happy sigh and he then leaned gently against him. ‘’I owe it all to you,’’ he then said and Alec quickly shook his head.

‘’No, I owe it all to you,’’ said Alec back and Magnus bit his lip. ‘’I guess now I can finally take you out on a proper date,’’ teased Alec and then winked, Magnus happily perking up and he then nodded. Oh, that sounded so amazing! He’d love to go out around the town! 

‘’Ah, it’s finally the end of it all,’’ said Magnus after a few moments of silence. ‘’A happy end, I suppose,’’ he said and then made a little pause. ‘’Though I guess it’s also a new beginning, huh?’’ he carried on and Alec slowly nodded and looked to the city. ‘’Mmm, am finally excited about the future. It’s been too long, you have no idea how much I’ve been afraid of moving forward, but now I’m finally… okay. Feels like everything will be okay.’’

‘’Of course, you have me. Your true love,’’ stated Alec proudly and Magnus chuckled. As much as it sounded cheesy, he really couldn’t disagree with that. ‘’So what do you say - to the new beginnings?’’ asked Alec as if he was making a toast, but was missing his glass of Champagne. Magnus grinned and leaned up to press a kiss on top of Alec’s lips.

‘’Yes, to the new beginnings,’’ muttered Magnus after they pulled back and he then sighed happily. 

The curse was broke, Camille was going to be soon behind bars, Alec and the others have taken care of those idiots that were after Magnus… it seemed that for the first time in a long time everything was okay and Magnus couldn’t wait for the future, starting with that first date  _ outside _ with Alexander. It was going to be amazing. 

** _The end_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this explains why I've been dragging out their first kiss for such a long time. True love's kisses always need quite a lot of time to happen 😂😂😂.  
And with that being said, I do hope that all of you have enjoyed this story. I'm happy to all of you that have supported me while I wrote this and it had really been so much fun! As I've mentioned before Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favourite fairy tale, so combining it with Malec had been a blast. Thank you for all of your comments and kudos.  
And much thanks to Katya, who helped me a lot with writing this! <3 I love you so much my love <3

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it was good! Thank you for reading, leave a comment if you liked it :)


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